Webchat with Mhairi Black MP, Tuesday 12 January at 11 - 12pm

downthelane

Dear Mhairi

I know that this was debated in the Commons for several hours last week and your motion was passed by 158 votes to zero. But the minister said that there will still be no change.

This is ludicrous. Now what?

Thank you for fighting the fight

Hi downthelane

I agree, that's ludicrous. It's bad enough that the Government benches were so empty for the whole debate but they also refused to even vote on the issue. What is the point of representing people if you won't even participate in an issue that affects as many constituents as this one? it was clear by the people that did vote that this is an issue that will not go away any time soon. That's precisely why the Government will have to act. My colleague Ian Blackford has written to the Secretary of State to highlight the hypocrisy of the Government and to ask them to take action.

yezle

I agree with all the above posters. But would like to raise another point about the continual increase of the retirement age which is that sometimes the work that you do makes it impossible to continue in a job even though you may wish to.

As a nurse I have had to help move patients - often twice my body weight - for years and years and as a result now suffer from back problems which prevent me continuing in the role however much I might want to. So what am I supposed to do at 60 plus? Retrain? Even if I could afford it what's the point in spending a year training for a new career that will only last a couple of years? The government need to think about those of us who have done heavy work that cannot be sustained into later years. They also need to remember that unemployment is rife, particularly in the north where I live. So it is all very well telling me I need to work - and actually I would like to work - but where am I meant to find a job when I have spent the best part of 40 years doing something I can no longer do?

Hi yezle

Apart from the fact that you shouldn't have to be finding work, the reality is that many women in the same position as yourself are actually unfit to continue the work they are in. For the Government to ask women to try and find employment and to claim benefits if they can't, is also against their own ideology as this will not help to reduce public spending. It also seems hypocritical for the Government to ask women to look for opportunities when it is their austerity agenda that is reducing opportunity.

We've already seen how the disabled and the sick are bearing the brunt of austerity, but now it seems that the female pensioners will have to bear it as well.

Kayteeb53

Thank you for all your support Mhairi. I am a 1953 woman. I took voluntary redundancy just before I was 59, thinking my redundancy money would see me through till 60. Then was diagnosed with breast cancer. I have finished treatment but the illness has impacted my energy and there are not too many jobs for 62 year old women.
I lost both my parents but really feel for the women who give up work to become carers. It is usually the woman who sacrifices her job to take on this role, and I think this is a fundamental reason why men and women's pension requirements are different. It is rare that the man gives up work.

Hi kayteeb53

Sorry to hear about your illness - hope things are going well.

You're absolutely correct. One of the rebuttals they Government gives to the arguments put forward by WASPI is that it's all okay because women will do better under the new single tier state pension due to come in April this year. But the Government fails to acknowledge the fact that women will only receive the higher state pension on the condition that they have paid 35 years' worth of NI. This clearly disadvantages many women like yourself who have not had the chance to build up that much NI because of things such as unpaid care. Unpaid carers save consecutive governments an absolute fortune when it comes to care - it's time the Government learned to appreciate this and treat people with the respect they deserve.