Councillors hit out at state pension‘cuts’
SNP members on Renfrewshire Council have condemned the scrapping of the Pension Triple Lock.
It guaranteed pensions grew by inflation or 2.5 per cent, whatever was the highest.
Councillor Kenny MacLaren said it was an example of a broken Tory manifesto, and blasted:“They claim that inflation is too high but that would mean that pensions would keep in line with rising prices, but that’s too much for a Tory Government which is too busy lining the pockets of their supporters to be bothered with the problems pensioners face.”
UK pensioners receive just 28 per cent of the average working wage when they retire, compared to up to 90 per cent in Luxembourg and Austria.
The SNP say independent states similar in size to Scotland, retire on an average of 64 per cent of salary.
Councillor Kenny MacLaren said:“It is well documented that the UK has the lowest state pension of any country in north west Europe, and UK pensioner poverty is on the rise after a decade of Tory austerity cuts.
“And now, to add insult to injury, we have Tory ministers considering cutting the increased payments that millions of Scottish and UK pensioners are due which will make pensioner poverty even worse.
“That is why independence for Scotland is so important.
“With independence, we can create a fairer, more progressive pension system whereby we guarantee that all those living in Scotland, regardless of gender, would receive a pension at the age of 65 or younger.”
Councillor Mags MacLaren added: “The UK government’s own Households Below Average Income statistics show that UK pensioner poverty levels are on the rise, with 2.1million pensioners living in poverty after housing costs - an increase of 200,000 on 2018/19, and a 15 year high.
“The Tory government has no intention of building a fair recovery from the pandemic. The only way to keep Scotland safe from Tory cuts is to become an independent country, with the full powers needed to protect and improve pensioner incomes.”