Labour is planning to take on the Conservatives on the issue of the state pension with a tour around the UK.
Last month, the government announced that the state pension age increase should be brought forward to 68 between 2037 and 2039.
Labour has criticised this increase and instead is considering a flexible retirement age as part of the party’s Commission on Pensions.
The change to the state pension age will leave 7.6 million people £10,000 worse off, according to analysis by the House of Commons Library.
Debbie Abrahams, Labour’s shadow secretary for work and pensions, will meet travel the UK to meet with pensioner groups and local residents.
She claimed 36.9m people will be forced to work longer while evidence suggests life expectancy has stalled in some places and is reducing in others.
Ms Abrahams said: “Labour will keep the state pension age at 66 and this tour will help us review, as part of our commitment to people powered politics, the pension system, with a view to guaranteeing a secure and healthy retirement for the many, not just the few.”
The UK government currently spends 5.2 per cent of GDP on the state pension.
Without action this would increase to 6.5 per cent of GDP by 2039 to 2040.
The government’s proposed timetable reduces this to 6.1 per cent of GDP by 2039 to 2040 – saving each household £400, based on the number of households today, and in total saving £74bn by 2045 to 2046 compared to the currently legislated timetable.
The state pension age is regularly reviewed to make sure that the state pension is affordable and fair. People are living longer, and spending a larger proportion of their adult life in retirement than in the past.
Latest projections from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people over state pension age in the UK is expected to grow by a third between 2017 and 2042, from 12.4 million in 2017 to 16.9 million in 2042.
Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, argued that if Labour is going to attack the Government’s state pension plans it needs to "come clean" about its alternative proposals.
He said: “Labour has previously said it wants to take variations in life expectancy into account when deciding the future of the state pension - a laudable aim but one which risks creating a mire of complexity.”
He said there were other proposals such as allowing people to receive their state pension earlier but at a lower rate or only allowing the state pension paid once a person has built up a certain number of years’ National Insurance contributions.
Mr Selby added: “The Cridland report estimates the state pension will cost an extra £20bn by 2020 without reform.
“Such numbers simply cannot be ignored and Labour needs to be straight about the detail of its own proposals and how they will affect people of all ages.”
maria.espadinha@ft.com
