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

I heard Mhairi speak yesterday in the HoC - goodness she is wise beyond her years!

I was born in 1954 and can only thank her for securing the debate.

She's a star we should watch.

I was born 1955 and would like to thank Mhairi for all her support in helping to get us noticed. Sadly my own MP isn't bothered - neither was my former MP in Dover (both are Conservative MP's).

As Riverwalk says,wise beyond her years,there is still hope for women in politics,as a WASPI supporter I thank Mhairi for her support,my local MP Marion FELLOWS is also an avid supporter of the WASPI campaign .

I saw her discussion regarding women's pensions too. Very impressive.

So refreshing to see an MP putting the concerns of the people forward so passionately. And so disheartening that it takes someone so young and new to the field to show the rest of them the way it's done. Great MPs that stand up for the people and do what's right should be the NORM, not an exception.

But well done to her, I've been impressed with her so far and hopeful that it will encourage more women and young people to stand up and be involved.

Very impressed with this wise young politician. As a pensioner born in 1952 I am one of many, many thousands of retired women who will never receive a full pension unless Mhairi Black fights for us and being recently widowed I really need the extra money which we have been cheated out of by this dishonest government.

Thanks SO much for your support Mhari-great to know someone in Gvmt. cares. Born Apr 54 and worked all life from 16 with short break for children. At 61 made unexpectedly redundant and applied for hundreds of jobs. JSA about to stop so now left dependent on husband's pension. Financed myself through Open Uni. studying after work and supported childrens studies as well. No maternity leave or equal pay or able to join pension fund for years.
Never cost country anything. What a way to end career - chucked on scrapheap. gOvernment just don't care.

i watched the debate, very powerful speech from one so young. You should be very proud of yourself. Thank you on behalf of all 1950s women x

Like your previous contributors I have raised two Children working and still supporting my family paying taxes and be find I have to wait for my pension from the state taxed to the pension I am getting because I'm working because I have to work .I am Lucky enough however want to add my voice in support .The changes came in too place with no consultation 1am a 1954 baby no choice about that .yet paying the price.

1955 baby here who only realised five years ago that I was on a reduced stamp so my pension will be around £17 per week! This can t be adjusted by extra payments apparently. As the difference in payments is not huge, it would be nice to know what I was paying towards! I am lucky in that I have another pension but what happens to the women that don't? Surely there should be some form of making extra payments for the last ten years.

I too am a 1954 woman, worked from 15yrs, but having breaks to raise children and care for elderly parents. I had a small business for 10yrs but it became too much for me and wasn't bringing in much income, so my husband (who is 7yrs older) and I decided that I would give it up age 58 and he would drop his hours to part time, in the view that he would get his pension and I would get mine 2yrs later. A well earned retirement after all our hard work. There is no chance of that now, I will be 62 in April and have had no income for 4 years and will have to wait till Nov 19 before I get my pension. My husband will have to work till he is 72yrs old, until my pension kicks in, if he lasts that long. Jobs are just not available at my age. I have never earned a good income, because I am of a generation that did not get the opportunities that are available today, I had no free child care so could not work long hours, but I raised three well adjusted children who have always worked hard, never been in trouble and are appalled at the way my pension has been taken away. I would like to thank The Waspi ladies for all they are doing and also all the MPs that are trying to make a difference for us.

Question for Mhairi: Born December 53 I have signed WASPI petition, circulated it to friends and family and contacted my MP. What else can I do to try and make sure the government take some action to help 1950's born women? Thank you very much for your help so far, it is much appreciated.

Hi Mhairi, Thanks for speaking out about the unfair pensions age increase - I am one of those affected. I am also ill and disabled. For the last 5 years I have been living with fear & anxiety because of the punitive Government cuts and dreadful assessments they have introduced for the benefits I rely on to survive (which I have worked all my life to ensure). My one small glimmer of hope was that soon I would soon be at pension age & not have to live every day with that anxiety. Now of course that is not the case.

And to my horror I've also just discovered that the Government now want to abolish Attendance Allowance & hand over support for ill and disabled people over 65 to local councils. We all know are they are struggling to cope with huge funding cuts already so this does not bode well at all. They will not be able to cope. Here is the consultation about it (page 7) The words "at the earliest possible legislative opportunity" really worry me. www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486730/Provisional_settlement_consultation_document.pdf

I cannot tell you how afraid for my future this makes me. I wonder if it is worth carrying on. I did not plan to become ill or disabled, but I try to live my life as best as I can. I do not need the constant background fear about being able to afford to eat/live eating away at me as well. Please can you do your best to prevent them doing this - it is the final nail in the coffin.

I would also like to thank Mhairi for having the courage and wisdom to make a stand to try and do something about this appalling inequality.

I am so angry at the way the Government is able to keep moving the goalposts. I have worked hard all my life and saved on the basis that I would retire at 60. And yet the goalposts have moved and moved and now I have to wait until I am 65. I do realise people are living longer and something needs to be done to reflect this but you cannot expect people to live a whole life according to one set of rules then have them changed at the last minute. We can't possibly make up the shortfall at this stage in our lives/jobs. And yet other friends get their pensions no problem.

We appreciate you speaking out for us and I would like to know if there are any other steps I can take - both for my own financial security and also to help you in what you are doing?

Thank you from me too Mhairi

I read this very interesting piece about it all paullewismoney.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/women-given-just-2-years-notice-of.html

But I struggled to get past the first point. "The Government did not write to any woman affected by the rise in pension ages for nearly 14 years after the law was passed in 1995."

How on earth can they get away with this? You can bet your bottom dollar that if it was men affected they never would have got away with it this long

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

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?

My husband and I are both retired and spend a lot of our time helping out at local charities and organisations that do a huge amount of good in the community but would never survive without volunteers like us. Had I been born a year later we would not have been able to do all this and it made me think about the what ifs and how these changes are going to deprive so many organisations of the people who keep them going. Or as we are all meant to be living longer are the government assuming that we can do this sort of thing in our 70s and 80s instead?

Another 1955 baby here! Made redundant 18 months ago and living on my small local government pension, having had my state pension date moved on by 6 years. Like others, I feel we have been kicked in the teeth. With 41 years of NI contributions, I think I have earned the pension I foolishly expected to get when turning 60 last January. My husband turned 65 the same week, so our plan was always to retire together. Another blow is that my husband got his free bus pass 6 years ago, at 60, and I don't get mine for another five years, when I'll be 66. Compounded by the fact that if I lived in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, I'd have still been eligible for free travel at 60

Mhairi, I'm ashamed to say that when you were elected, I wondered how someone so young would cope as an MP. You have proved to be a force in UK politics, and a very honourable woman. Thank you so much for taking up the fight on behalf of us WASPI women.

Could I ask what influenced you to make this one of your battles?

Thank you again Mhairi

I am also a 50's baby born May 53, who will not receive my pension till November 2016 at 53 years and six months whilst many of my same year school friends are already getting getting their pension. I have as many years full contributions as they have but due to being a May baby will have to wait.

I also paid for my own training, haven't had a loan to pay back and haven't ever been in receipt of benefits.

It just isn't fair or equal especially the notice period that men received for 1 year deferment rather than what we received for 3 and a half years. I also signed the petition.

Please keep fighting for us.

I keep hearing that women's pensions have been put back by up 3 yrs but in reality they have gone back up 6 or 7 years, mine has gone back by 5 years and 7 months. I have friends who were in the same class as me at school but being 10 months older they get their pension more than 2 yrs 9 months before me!! whoever worked out the time table? I also hear a lot about women who have a small pension and maybe some savings to fall back on, but what about us women who have nothing? I have no income of any kind but because my husband is working part time i cant claim a penny from anywhere. I am very fortunate to have a husband who is willing to support me but at 68yrs old its not very fair that he has to. I am not fit enough to go to work but not disabled, i dont want to claim benefits, i want what is rightfully mine, what i have paid into and what i believed i would get at 60! I want my pension!

Thank you for standing up for us Mhairi.

I was born late April 1955 and was originally informed my pension would be mine at 63 and a bit, this unexpectedly changed to 66.

I retired at 58, on a reduced NHS pension, paid into for 32 years, following an illness which made me realise that if I didn't retire I might not reach 60!

The government should be ashamed to have taken pension years and income from women who have no such provision. There must be so many ladies out there with failing health who are now faced with having to carry on for another 6 years or struggle to survive on little or no benefits.

We expected to have our state pensions at 60, we paid for it with our contributions under that belief and arranged our lives accordingly.

I might be naive but I thought my contributions were being put into a "pot" and invested for me.

The amount of money we have lost is considerable. If you assume around £5,000 per year for 6 years, this is £30,000 EACH. How many women are affected........

I accept that retirement age should have been changed to 65 to be fair to men but this has come at a considerable price to pay for some of us.

There was talk, I thought, about some help for the most seriously affected (I think born before 5th April 1955 - I just missed this by 3 weeks!). Is this no longer the case?