Nats chief pledge on pensions
The SNP’s new Westminster leader has vowed to make tackling women’s pension inequality and fuel poverty his top priorities.
Ian Blackford is now in charge of the House of Commons’ third largest party after Angus Robertson lost his seat in this month’s general election.
In his first two years at Westminster, Blackford championed the campaign for the so-called WASPIs (Women Against State Pensions Inequality) who will lose out on pension rights under benefit reforms.
Nearly 250,000 women in Scotland who were born in the 1950s are affected by the pensionable age being put back several years.
It will rise to 67 for both men and women between 2026 and 2028.
And Blackford said he would continue to press the Government on the issue as his party’s Westminster leader.
He said: “A woman born in February 1953 would have retired in January 2016, just short of her 63rd birthday.
“But a woman born in February 1954 won’t retire until July 2019, when she is 65 and a half.
“The clock is ticking and the Government are hoping the passage of time will remove this as an issue. We will use every mechanism and opportunity to make sure this remains on the table.”
Blackford represents Ross, Skye and Lochaber, the seat he first won in 2015 when he defeated former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy.
He said: “As a Highland MP, something very concerning to me is 77 per cent of pensioners in the area live in fuel poverty.”
We will ensure this issue remains on the table