The British were promised an imminent increase in the retirement age to 68 years

London ministers wary of protests in neighboring France

While the outrage against Macron’s pension reform continues in France, authorities across the Channel are preparing Britons to raise the retirement age. The Minister for Work and Pensions has said the UK will have to raise the retirement age after the election to 68.

The government will have to “grab the throat” to push ahead with raising the retirement age to 68 in the first couple of years of the next parliament, Labor and Pensions Minister Mel Stride suggested.

Postponing the decision due to lower life expectancy, Stride said the retirement age would still have to be passed, but it would likely be a decision for his successor in office and that people would still get 10 years’ notice, according to The Guardian. .

Minister Stride made the remark while speaking to reporters at a dinner in Westminster when asked if the government would try to revise its plans to raise the retirement age in the future in light of the unrest and protests in France.

The Minister of Labor and Pensions, a close ally of Rishi Sunak, said: “I don’t think it’s in the spirit of our nation to riot and set fires over a government pension. Ultimately, I made the decision to put it on hold due to Covid and economic uncertainty, and the fact that it’s important to notify people of any changes 10 years in advance. The range of dates for raising the state retirement age from 67 to 68 falls well into the 2030s: you’re talking about the 2030s, 40s or so. There is no reason why we need to make a decision now; you can wait until the first two years of the next parliament, make that decision and still notify people 10 years in advance.”

However, the minister said a decision still needs to be made, The Guardian emphasizes.

“There is a point in time when nettles have to be seized on, but not to be seized on until someone other than me takes over,” Stride said, suggesting that he does not see himself as labor and pensions secretary after the next election. .

Under current plans, the state retirement age of 66 is to be raised in stages to 67 between 2026 and 2028 and then to 68 between 2044 and 2046, affecting people born after April 1977.

A 2017 government review suggested moving the last range to the late 2030s, forcing millions of people born in the early 1970s who expected to retire at 67 to wait another year.

Reports in January claimed that ministers planned to push back the increase to 2035 – affecting people under 54 today – in response to Treasury lobbying in hopes of saving billions of pounds in government pension payments.

However, with general elections due next fall, ministers were wary of a potential backlash from middle-aged voters. Unrest in France over a planned increase in the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64 has also spooked British officials.