- 14/09/2018
- Posted by: Hillingdon Labour
- Category: News
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A motion calling on the Council to receive a report into the hardship faced by many women born in the 1950s due to change to the state pension age was refused and shut down by the Hillingdon Conservatives last night, instead calling it ‘student union politics’ and the administration said it was ‘not a Hillingdon issue’.
Nearly 12,000 women in Hillingdon have been negatively affected by the changes outlined in the 2011 State Pension Act which have equalised the age that men and women retire – but huge numbers of women across the country have argued that they were not communicated the changes and now are facing severe hardship.
The Conservative Government have acknowledged that many women were not notified of the changes, but have continued to insist on not putting in any transitional arrangements. Many women who had expected to retire soon, some of whom are in ill health, are being encouraged to find work instead – seen by many as an insult to the women who had worked for most of their lives.
Proposing the motion at last night’s Council meeting, Cllr Peter Curling said:
“Councils of all political persuasions across the country have agreed similar motions to this in order to represent their residents and lobby government for decent transitional arrangements.“As this council prides itself on putting residents first, I am hoping that this will be the case in Hillingdon and that all members across party lines feel that they can support this motion.”
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Curling said:
“The Hillingdon Conservatives spend quite a bit of time at last night’s meeting talking about Green Flags, but seemed to believe that the hardship faced by many women right here in Hillingdon was not worth their concern.
“Councillor Simmonds tried to invoke a procedural motion which ends the debate and immediately moves it to a vote. It’s a further insult to the 12,000 women in Hillingdon affected by these changes.”
