Transitional State Pension Arrangements for Women
Lord Redwood Excerpts(9 years, 11 months ago)
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Mr Vara
If the hon. Gentleman is so proud of what the Labour Government did, why does he stand up to complain? They obviously did very little, and it must have had very little impact, because otherwise we would not be hearing the comments that Labour Members are making today.
John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)
When it comes to equalisation, how much leeway do the UK Government have under EU law?
Mr Vara
EU law does require us to equalise pension ages. Later in my speech, I will mention countries that have already achieved what we are still endeavouring to achieve. Incidentally, the shadow Secretary of State was wrong in what he said about Germany. Germany has already achieved equalisation.
Women and the Economy
Lord Redwood Excerpts(10 years, 2 months ago)
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Kate Green
My right hon. Friend is right. I suspect that neither of us has 70 years to wait for the gap to be equalised. I shall return to that point later.
John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)
Why did not the last Labour Government solve this problem?
Kate Green
We did an awful lot better than the coalition Government and this Government. [Interruption.] Yes, we did! The speed of reduction under the Labour Government in the past decade meant that the gender pay gap came down by around a third, but that progress has sadly not been maintained under Conservative-led Governments.