State pension age: Amber Rudd says Government will not consider proposal to raise retirement threshold to 75 Tory peer called raising retirement age to 75 ‘immoral’ while Labour leader called it ‘discriminatory against working class’

Amber Rudd has said the Government is not considering proposals to increase the state pension age to 75.

It comes after a think tank published a controversial recommendation to accelerate the state pension age to 70 by 2028 and 75 by 2035 for both men and women.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which was founded by former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, said the idea could be a solution to the economic challenges Britain faces because of its ageing population.

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Condemned proposal

However, it has been widely condemned with Tory former pensions secretary Baroness Ros Altmann calling it “immoral”. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called it a policy “that discriminates against working class people – especially those in manual jobs”.

Following the outcry, Ms Rudd, Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “I’ve been clear that this Government is not and will not consider or implement proposals to raise the state pension age.”

Speaking at a women’s centre in Plymouth, Ms Rudd reiterated the CSJ’s idea was not Government policy.

“The Government policy is set at young people entering the workforce to retire at 68, and there’s no prospect of raising that age to 75. I would rule it out, yes,” she said, according to the Plymouth Herald.

The threshold for receiving the state pension is currently in the process of moving to 66 for both men and women. It is set to increase to 67 by 2028 and to 68 between 2044 and 2046.

“We all live longer and so it’s right, given that taxpayers have to pay for pensions, that we ask people to work a little longer in order to enjoy the rest of their long life, we hope, with a secure income,” said Ms Rudd.

Idea defended

The CSJ, a centre-right, independent think tank, first proposed the new benefits system Universal Credit, which is currently being rolled out across the country.

It its Ageing Confidently – Supporting an Ageing Workforce report, it argued that raising the state pension age could boost the UK’s economy.

It defended its proposals against criticism. “The notion that we are asking for people to work until they drop is unfounded.

“When the state pension age of 65 was introduced in the forties, life expectancy was 66. Men and women can now expect to live into their 80s, we only ask that the state pension age reflects that longer life expectancy. There is nothing just and moral about being unable to fund a social security system,” said Patrick Spencer, head of work and welfare at the CSJ, told i.