State Pension Age
Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Tommy Sheppard(8 years, 8 months ago)
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Mr Duncan Smith
I agree with my hon. Friend. My door is always open and I am always ready to see somebody, even if they then change their mind. I have found the tweet that the shadow Secretary of State sent this morning—strangely, not after he had seen the statement, but only after he had seen the newspapers. It states:
“Pensions Minister scraps retirement for all but the rich and those lucky enough to have a good private pension!!!”
How ridiculous is that? This is the announcement of a statutory review that his party agreed with in 2014. He really needs to apologise.
Tommy Sheppard (Edinburgh East) (SNP)
The Secretary of State and all of us here are fortunate to have satisfying, well-paid jobs, but many of our countrymen and women work just to survive. Will the review look at whether it should always be the presumption that living longer means working longer, or might we look at alternative ways of funding the basic state pension so that people are able to benefit and live fulfilled lives in retirement as a result of better healthcare and the fact that we are living longer?
Mr Duncan Smith
Again, that is a wholly legitimate question for the hon. Gentleman to raise. As I said to his party’s spokesman, that matter is within scope for the reviewer, if he wishes to raise it. The reviewer and his team will have to decide how to get the balance right. It is certainly within scope for the hon. Gentleman and his party to ask the reviewer to look at that balance and to see whether some of the presumptions are necessary, and I urge him to do so.