State pension age review

robrit61

This article has come up in my Google feed.
https://flyeptportugal.com/state-pension-age-update-2025/
It's saying that the state pension age isn't going to be increased to 67 as planned after 2026. 

Seems too good to be true. 

Does anyone know anything about this please ? 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

robrit61 said:

This article has come up in my Google feed.
https://flyeptportugal.com/state-pension-age-update-2025/
It's saying that the state pension age isn't going to be increased to 67 as planned after 2026. 

Seems too good to be true. 

Does anyone know anything about this please ? 

I suspect just the "journalist" that wrote it.

robrit61

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

robrit61 said:

This article has come up in my Google feed.
https://flyeptportugal.com/state-pension-age-update-2025/
It's saying that the state pension age isn't going to be increased to 67 as planned after 2026. 

Seems too good to be true. 

Does anyone know anything about this please ? 

I suspect just the "journalist" that wrote it.

Yes. Pretty much what I thought. It would have been nice though. I'm not getting mine until I am 66 and three quarters. 

QrizB

robrit61 said:

Does anyone know anything about this please ? 

That entire site looks like AI slop intended to make you click through to their advertising.

4justice2

Fake news, several of these sites going around. 

flaneurs_lobster

That flyeptportugal.com source turned up in my newsfeed this AM, something to do with TV Licences being abolished.

Clickbait.

Pollycat

Public Reaction To The Update

The news has been met with a wave of positive reactions across the UK. Many see it as a victory for common sense and fairness. Trade unions and pensioner rights groups have praised the decision, calling it a step towards recognising the contributions older workers have made throughout their careers. Social media has also seen widespread discussion, with thousands expressing their relief and sharing their updated retirement plans.

Really?...

flaneurs_lobster

Pollycat said:

Public Reaction To The Update

The news has been met with a wave of positive reactions across the UK. Many see it as a victory for common sense and fairness. Trade unions and pensioner rights groups have praised the decision, calling it a step towards recognising the contributions older workers have made throughout their careers. Social media has also seen widespread discussion, with thousands expressing their relief and sharing their updated retirement plans.

Really?...

Hundreds of pensioners spilling onto the streets in a spontaneous outpouring of joy round my way.....

ljayljay

Yes I received this too. The topic & countries finances meant that I knew it was complete rubbish. However, as there were multiple stories/advertising it just looked like any other clickbait news site. Seems like we are in for a rollercoaster ride of misinformation with AI in the coming years. Unfortunately, there are too many humans amongst us who can't resist turning useful new technology into useless dangerous technology.

born_again

Same source in my feed mentioned a £130 cut in pensions next year.

Unless anything in these feeds is from a well known news supplier then it is 99.999% rubbish.

hugheskevi

Perhaps worth recapping how Govt policy is typically developed and publicised, in order of least reliable to most reliable. Policy change takes a lot of time, so anything appearing 'out of the blue' and particularly if not in mainstream news is almost certainly rubbish unless it is on a very niche topic that isn't going to get national media attention.

Speculative policy change

This is the vast majority of policy reporting, speculating on things that might happen but which are at best uncertain and at worst never going to progress into change.

1. "Experts mull change to..." - typically a think tank that has put out some policy proposal that news outlets run with despite it having no Govt connection at all. The Think Tanks want publicity, so are likely to put forward findings that lend themselves to generating interesting headlines which the Press are all too happy to use.
2. "Minister refuses to rule out..." - typically a journalist asking a Minister something they know they cannot commit to so as to generate a news headline, this is not really news, eg, asking Starmer if he will commit to no new tax rises in the autumn budget
3. Party conference discussion/resolution (in September each year) - this does depend exactly how and who puts the measure forward, but lots of party conference material never sees any development into policy.
4. Various Parliamentary committees or Ombudsman recommendations - typically findings that the Govt is not obligated to follow
5. Manifesto commitment - many do not get enacted, and many more are enacted in a different way to initially envisaged
6. Green Paper - a Government document setting out various possiblilities, less certain policy, and so forth - intended to be the forertunner of a White Paper and many things set out in the Green Paper will not progress, but it is quite likely that something will happen.

Change of minor significance

These are likely to get attention in specialist press, but probably not national news coverage.

1. Press Release - govt. departments will put out a press release about every change, no matter how minor, and all are made publicly available on their websites
2. Junior Minister announcement - for anything of big significance, it will likely be the Prime Minister, Chancellor or Secretary of State making an announcement.
3. Written Ministerial Statement - updating Parliament on an issue, probably fairly niche but of importance to those affected
4. HM Treasury Directions - usually setting out the detail of how previously announced policy will be taken forward
5. Central government policy guidance documents - non-statutory policy guidance documents setting out how Govt/Departmental will approach an area. Probably only of interest to those affected.

Significant policy changes

These are all likely to have some trailing in advance of the announcement being made, and will attract significant national media coverage. Nobody taking any interest in news will miss them.

1. Departmental Press Release, co-ordinated by Number 10 Grid so as not to clash with any other major announcement.
2. Commission or advisory body set up - often used to get cross-party support for a controversial area. An independent body is appointed by a Department to research, report, and make policy recommendations. Typically takes a year or so. Whilst what might happen is unknown, it is very likely that some change will be made based on the recommendations.
3. White Paper - a paper with detailed policy proposals that may well form the basis of a later Bill
4. Budget announcement (which could include previously announced policy, policies floated in advance of Budget, or a truly new policy. It is well worth looking through Budget documents as they contain the vast majority of things an individual should be aware of - reading these alone would leave an individual far better informed than the vast majority about changes being made across the economy.
5. Announcement by Prime Minister, Chancellor, or Secretary of State - likely to have various media appearances by prominent Ministers at and shortly after announcement.
6. Queen's Speech - sets out which Bills will proceed and become Acts of Parliament
7. Act of Parliament - primary legislation, enabling something new, usually followed by secondary legislation that sets out the details of how the new thing will work exactly.
8. Finance Act - every year the Finance Act implements financial changes, there won't be anything unexpected in these though, so they are not really news, but is nonetheless important legislation.
9. Supreme Court or Court of Appeal judgment - these are the top of the legal hierarchy, so any legal verdicts the Govt dislikes will get to these levels. If the  Govt. loses here then they are likely to have to change policy and/or legislation.