Mhairi Black MP Calls For Pension Changes Debate

MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South Mhairi Black has today applied for a Westminster Hall debate after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced they will introduce changes to the pension age state benefits that will have an impact on couples of different ages.

Currently couples can claim pension credit of £255.25 when one of them reaches the pension age of 65. However the new rules being implemented by the UK Government mean that couples where only one person is over the state pension age will no longer be able to claim pension credit.

These changes to pension age state benefits will be introduced from May 15, 2019 and mean that in some cases people might only be able to claim Universal Credit which could see some of the poorest pensioners around £7,000 per year worse off.

Mhairi Black has also criticised the timing of this announcement from Monday evening.

Mhairi Black MP said,

“I think the Government had hoped that these scandalous changes would simply go unnoticed by announcing this on the eve of the Brexit deal vote.”

“I have applied for a Westminster Hall debate to let the Minister know these changes are not reasonable. It won’t have legislative power but will be a good opportunity to let the UK Government know that this is unacceptable.”

“If these pension changes go ahead some of our poorest pensioners will be punished simply for having a younger partner. This policy puts couples in the absurd position that they are actually financially better off living apart. Yet again the UK Government have botched a pension policy and targeted those financially worse off.”