Labour shot down over pension fear for women
THE fate of women who will get their pensions at 66 when they had always thought they would get them at 60 is no concern of Hillingdon Council.
That is the verdict of Tory councillors who shot down a Labour group motion calling for them to investigate the extent to which women are suffering because of the change made by the government in 2011.
Labour group leader Peter Curling tabled the motion, calling on the council to investigate and take action to help the women who he said were suffering because there was no transitional relief to help bridge the gap.
He said: “The majority of women born in the 1950s have planned their lives and their savings around receiving their pension at the age of 60.
“The lack of provision to offer transitional relief is causing many women in this age group considerable hardship, which also has a knock-on effect for their families and their general family life.
“There must be many women, probably thousands in this borough, who fall into this age group.”
The motion was seconded by councillor Kerri Prince, who said there were 12,000 women in Hillingdon affected.
She said: “As this council prides itself on putting residents first, I am hoping that this will be the case in Hillingdon and that all members across party lines feel that they can support this motion.”
The idea, however, was shot down in no uncertain terms by the Tories.
In a direct put down to Cllr Prince, who is a recent graduate from Brunel University, Cllr Douglas Mills said: “This is a very important issue, but this isn’t the chamber where it should be debated.
“We need to make it absolutely clear that the motions where they seek to turn the chamber into a junior Students’ Union debating society, or pretend to be parliamentarians when they are not, will not be put forward.
“When the Labour group had the chance to talk about issues that really affect Hillingdon residents such as the Local Development Plan, they were silent.”
Mr Curling said after the meeting: “The Hillingdon Conservatives seemed to believe that the hardship faced by many women right here in Hillingdon was not worth their concern.”