Review Oapage

Chancellor Rishi Sunak certainly lit up the country with hi s ve r y wel c o me U- t ur n r e g a r d i n g t h e f u r l o u g h scheme. Extending i t until March 2021 will assist t he economy of the country and help millions who were facing uncertainly and possible redundancy. But are t here other measures we should be looking at ?

Covid has cer tainly given the country a wake- up call as thousands have gone the extra mile in serving their communities, friends and neighbours, demonstrating a caring societ y. It has also given us the opportunity to review exactly how we function in providing major services and I am sure many of our welfare policies will see reform as a result. Future employment opportunities should certainly be focused towards the younger generation to give them a chance in life.

So could the Chancellor’s announcement have gone further? Well, all sectors of societ y are being affected, but one sector who are being affected t hat could have a solution presented are those being forced into early retirement. Those over 60 years of age, those who will struggle to find future employment. Surely there must be another way than to simply ask them to join the employment statistics and apply for benefits.

After all, many have worked close on four decades of their l i ves, and while t he f o cus of future job opportunities should be geared towards the younger generation, we must not stand by and l et t hose in the twilight years of their working lives down. There should be an urgent review of the state pension age. It simply does not make economic sense for those being forced into early retirement to have to start the process of claiming benefits.

So perhaps the Chancellor’s announcement could have gone further by announcing an immediate review of state pension age considering the future implication for this sector.

CATRIONA CLARK

Hawthorn Drive Banknock, Falkirk