Call me cynical but...

Milarky

Charlton_Taz wrote:

The reason they want to raise the retirement age is that all it means that in your retirement they will have to pay you 2-3 years less with the state pension - therefore cheaper!!

This question was addressed by Turner on the Radio 4 discussion on Thursday. He says that the proposed increase in SP age to 2050 is meant to only claw back a proportion of the increased life expectency so that anyone retiring, say in 25 years time at 66, will probably live 3 more years beyond 65 on average and thus would have 2 added years drawing that pension compared to the equivalent retirement today.

[The man knows his stuff! see Simon Hoggart's sketch for the Grauniad that day]

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Retirement pensions are political social engineering. My guess on this is that Blair will take the moral high ground and be on the side of the angels by agreeing with pension increases, stop means testing and be an all round ordinary sort of guy good egg.
He won't do anything to stop Brown digging - revenge is a dish best eaten cold!

littld

I think there's an obvious reason people are living longer - early retirement.

As we extend the working lives of people, life expectancy will fall.

jezbo

They may as well stop providing NHS care to the over 60's, so that there is more chance that they die off before pension age!