A Scottish Labour MP is bidding to stop the state pension age from rising. Brian Leishman said “retirement age should be coming down, not going up.”
The Alloa and Grangemouth MP said people “should be enjoying retirement” rather than being forced to work into their late 60s. The state pension age currently sits at 66 but is scheduled to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. It is set to rise even further to 68 between 2044 and 2046.
Leishman told the Record: “No one should feel like a disposable commodity that’s there to be exploited and then discarded after every last ounce of work has been wrung out of them. At 67 coming up for 68 no one should be working, they should be enjoying retirement.
“In Scotland we are seeing life expectancy decrease. There’s a lot of reasons why that’s happening but fundamentally people should have the chance of enjoying retirement.” When asked if he was against the rise to 67 in the next few years, Leishman said: “Retirement age should be coming down, not going up.”
Up until 2010 the pension age for women had been 60. Between 2010 and 2018 it rose to 65, which was the same age as men. Between 2018 and 2020 the pension age rose for both men and women to 66. Trade union Unite called for the retirement age to be returned to 65 ahead of the general election.
The state pension bill has risen in recent years because a larger share of the population is at retirement age. Increasing the age at which people receive the state pension is used by the Government to reduce the amount it pays out.
But unions have argued that many workers do not believe they are physically or mentally able to keep working into their late 60s or beyond. The full state pension rate is £221.20 per week, or £11,502.40 per year. The basic state pension is £169.50 per week. The amount a person receives depends on how many years they have paid national insurance.
The UK Government was approached for comment.
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