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Millions of workers will be forced to graft for an extra year after the government brought forward a major pension age hike.

Tory ministers today announced they will start raising the pension age from 67 to 68 in 2037 - seven years earlier than planned.

The news is a devastating blow to around six million workers in their 40s who only expected the rise in 2044, after they had already retired.

Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke said he was forced into the move by rising life expectancy - claiming future retirees would still claim a pension for their last 22 years.

Yet his bombshell came just a day after health expert Sir Michael Marmot warned rises in British life expectancy had stalled for the first time in 100 years.

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Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said: "The government is picking the pockets of everyone in their late 40s and younger.

"It is astonishing that this is being announced the day after new authoritative research suggested that the long-term improvement in life expectancy is stalling."

GMB union pensions organiser Keir Greenaway added: "This is the double bite of austerity – workers are expected to work longer and could now be at risk of dying sooner.

“GMB sees this as a complete disregard for working people from an out of touch Government - and a Cabinet of millionaires who will never know what it is like to have to rely on a state pension."

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Hiking the state pension age risks creating second-class citizens. “In large parts of the country, the state pension age will be higher than healthy life expectancy. And low-paid workers at risk of insecurity in their working lives will now face greater insecurity in old age too."

PCS union general secretary Mark Serwotka said the rise was "another sign of failure from the Tories whose handling of the economy over the last seven years has been disastrous."

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UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis added: “This move is not based on people living longer. It’s a cynical move to make many low paid workers in the NHS and local government either wait longer for their pension, or take a pension cut if they finish work early."

Everyone born between 6 April 1970 and 5 April 1978 will be hit - meaning the vast majority of people affected are currently in their 40s.

Mr Gauke said his move would save £74billion and be £250billion cheaper than Labour's vow to cap the pension age at 66, which he branded "reckless, short-sighted and irresponsible".

But Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams said the plan was "astonishing" and "anything but fair" after the government's "slash and burn" welfare cuts.

She told MPs pensioners are already "battling a toxic cocktail of ill health" that can begin long before the planned retirement age.

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She added: "This is an astonishing continuation of austerity that means 34 million people will work longer than under Labour’s plans.

"We cannot allow this Government to push people to work longer and longer to pay for its failed austerity agenda."

The change was recommended in a report by former CBI chief John Cridland just before the general election.

SNP MP Kirsty Blackman said it was no surprise the Tories stalled the announcement until after polling day because it "would undoubtedly have lost the Conservatives even more seats."

Mr Gauke was forced to ditch the Cridland Review's other key recommendation to scrap the triple lock by the Tories' deal with the DUP.

The Northern Irish party refused to accept a watering down of the lock, which ensures pensions rise each year by 2.5%, average earnings or inflation, whichever is highest.

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The Tory manifesto had recommended replacing it with a weaker double lock.

And the Cridland Review had recommended going even further, saying rises should match average earnings only - which could see them slip behind inflation.

But a DWP source said: "At the moment we are committed to keeping the triple lock for the remainder of this parliament."

The pension age will rise to 66 from December 2018 and 67 from April 2026.

The hike from 67 to 68 will be phased in over two years. Exactly how this is structured will only be decided when the government puts the change into law at a later date.

Further pension age rises haven't been announced. But calculations for the government suggest it will hit 69 in 2040 and 70 in 2054 if people are expected to spend 32% of their adult lives as pensioners.

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association warned the latest change would hit the "sandwich generation" who have missed out on both final salary schemes for the old and automatic enrolment for the young.

Aegon pensions director Steven Cameron warned many people "through health concerns, job pressures or lack of employment opportunity simply can’t keep working into their late 60s."

The number of people over state pension age is expected to grow by a third between 2017 and 2042, from 12.4 million to 16.9 million, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.

The government currently spends 5.2% of GDP on the state pension, which would rise to 6.5% of GDP by 2039/40 without any action.

Bringing forward the retirement age hike cuts this to 6.1% of GDP by 2039/40 - saving each household £400, the government claimed.

The Social Market Foundation think tank warned the pension age was rising quicker due to the Tory crackdown on immigration.

Director James Kirkup said: "Lower migration means a higher pension age because migrants tend to be younger workers who pay more in tax than they consume in services. If we shut the door to their talent and efforts, Britain’s economy and public services will suffer."

No 10 denied claims the pensions statement was timed to “bury” the bad news on the same day the BBC revealed its top stars’ pay.

“I don’t think it’s legitimate to say we were seeking to bury it,” said the PM’s spokesman.

“I’m not aware of any correlation between the two announcements.”