Ministers must protect value of state pension as it is lifeline for many

Daily Record

6 days ago

The sad reality is people drawing their pension 25 years from now are set to be £800, or eight per cent, worse off per year than their counterparts today.
The governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown made huge strides in cutting pensioner poverty.
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Introducing pension credit helped millions of low-income pensioners and retirement savings were boosted, But every generation faces fresh challenges and this one is no different.
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The sad reality is people drawing their pension 25 years from now are set to be £800, or eight per cent, worse off per year than their counterparts today.
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Four in 10 – nearly 15million people – are not saving enough for retirement. Young people are in a bind caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
Their incomes are squeezed and they are paying an outrageous amount of their net income on rent. Many people want to save more for when they retire but simply cannot afford to do so.
One of the issues the UK-wide Poverty Commission is expected to look at is the challenges facing the low-paid and the estimated three million self-employed people who are not saving into a pension.
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Labour must take a values-based position into pension reform. Ministers must protect the value of the state pension as it is a lifeline for many people.
Labour is right to encourage people to save more for their retirement if they can. But they must also provide greater incentives for people on modest incomes to find the spare cash.
Part of this involves turning the corner on the cost-of-living crisis so that people have more money in their pockets. Keir Starmer has the chance to be as bold as previous Labour Prime Ministers and he must seize the opportunity.
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Identity scandal
The public's right to be protected from beasts like Connor Tait does not end when they are let out jail. The 32-year-old hid in a bush and pounced on the child who was walking home from football training in 2013.
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He was released from jail in 2023 and has recently changed his identity – using the name 'Connie Duncan' – while advertising himself on social media as a cleaner and dog walker.
Ash Regan MSP is right when she says the case underlines a deeply troubling reality that when sexual offenders can change their identity without proper safeguards.
How can it be right that a convicted paedophile can simply adopt a new identity and begin advertising services to enter people's homes?
Public safety must be put first. Tait should not be allowed anywhere near any family's home. We need robust checks and transparency to prevent offenders from simply reinventing themselves and potentially putting others at risk.