Pension row demo takes to streets

The Local Pensions Group (LPG) Leigh, Makerfield, Wigan spent several hours at a stall on Standishgate gathering petition signatures and letting residents know more about the cause.

The group is connected to the national Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) protest and the group’s co-founder Anne Keen joined the Wigan campaigners to spread the word.

It attracted support from Makerfield MP Yvonne Fovargue and collected more than 250 signatures before heavy rain brought an end to the day’s protests.

Wigan activists were today joining Waspi protestors from around the UK in London for a rally outside Parliament before lobbying MPs.

The group, which backs the idea of equalising pension ages but is critical of how it has been handled, is calling on ministers to make fair transitional arrangement for women born on or after April 6 1951 who have been affected by the state pension age increase.

Ms Fovargue said: “The women who are set to lose out as a result of these mishandled reforms have worked hard all of their lives, but many are now desperately worried about their retirement plans.

“It is not at all surprising that the pension minister who introduced the reforms recently described them recently as a ‘bad decision’.”