PENSION PROTEST

Livingston MP, Hannah Bardell, joined State Pension Age Campaigners at a Westminster Protest last week.

The MP joined women from across the country at the demonstration outside the Palace of Westminster in support of women hit by the acceleration of the equalisation of the State Pension Age, a change which began in 1995 and was compounded in 2011.

Campaigners also met their local MPs inside the Palace in order to secure their support for the campaign.

According to the independent House of Commons Library, the Livingston Constituency has around 4730 women who are directly affected by the 2011 Pensions Act alone and 358 local residents signed the e-petition calling for transitional arrangements, which received almost 200,000 signatures nationwide.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign works to lobby the Government to introduce transitional arrangements for those women affected, many of whom were not notified about the changes, and took early retirement, leaving them without any income.

Hannah said:“We want to get the best outcome for these women, many of whom have worked hard for decades without taking a penny out of the system.

“I am therefore proud to join them at their demonstration in Westminster today. I hope we will soon have the equitable outcome that the WASPI women deserve.”