“The state pension age is too high for millions and must not rise again.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is attacking pensioners on a number of fronts (Image: Getty)
Those are the words of Dennis Reed, founder and director of elderly campaign group Silver Voices.
He breaks with the consensus that the state pension age should keep rising and rising, saying it can’t be justified and won’t save money.
Last week, the Daily Express asked three pensions experts what should be done to keep the state pension affordable.
David Sinclair, chief executive of the International Longevity Centre, replied by stating the controversial view that a state pension age hike to 71 “inevitable”.
He said the alternative is to make cutbacks elsewhere, for example, by scrapping the hugely popular state pension triple lock.
Dennis Reed takes a very different view. He’s furious that pensioners find themselves once again in the firing line, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves seeks further public expenditure cuts.
Following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s callous Winter Fuel Payment raid, the ditching of social care reform and the refusal to compensate Waspi women, Reed is worried about the next line of attack.
Silver Voices strongly argues that no rise in the state pension age is justifiable in the present circumstances.
“All previous rises have been justified by the steady rise in life expectancy and claims that people are able to work later in life. Neither currently applies,” Reed says.
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Increases in life expectancy in the UK have stalled in recent years, particularly after the pandemic.
In some deprived areas, life expectancy has actually gone into decline.
“There is no sign this will pick up any time soon, given the aftermath of the pandemic, pressure on the NHS and cost-of-living crisis,” he adds.
Like many, he expects the scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment for 10million pensioners to drive up the number of excess winter deaths.
The idea that most older people will be able to work ever later in life is also a fallacy, Reed says, particularly those with physical jobs.
“All statistics show we are a sicker society, with healthy life expectancy falling for both men and women.
“Millions sit on NHS waiting lists for routine operations and screenings. That’s a major cause of this decline in Britons’ health.”
Reed said older people face other challenges: “We also know that many find it much more difficult to find and retain employment, even if they’re capable of doing the job. No action has been taken by successive governments to root out endemic age discrimination.”
Extending the state pension age will simply leave more dependent on benefits. “It will probably cost the Exchequer more in the long term,” he said.
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Reed said the imminent state pension age rise to 67 from 2026 has all the makings of another Waspi women scandal, as the government has given inadequate notification of the changes.
“Affected individuals are supposed to get 10 years’ notice. However, the independent review of the state pension age by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, presented to Parliament in 2023, stated that “personal notifications have not yet been sent” to those affected.
That’s not good enough and must be challenged, Reed said. “The Chancellor must rule out any early decisions on further rises to the state pension age and review whether the planned increase to 67 is reasonable, given present circumstances.”
There are strong arguments to holding or even cutting the state pension age, but as ever, it all comes down to money. And Chancellor Rachel Reeves is short of it right now.
