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Retirement age 'to rise to 68 by the end of the 2030s' under UK Government plans
State pension age increase to 68 'to be fast-tracked' under UK plans
By Herald Scotland Online
Conservative ministers are considering raising the UK state pension age to 68 by the end of the next decade, reports have suggested.
Those born in the 1970s or later could be told as soon as March that a review of the increase in age will be brought forward.
The state pension age is due to rise from 66 to 67 by 2028.
The next increase is not due to happen until 2046 - but an upcoming review, reportedly backed by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, is set to say it should be brought forward to the end of the 2030s.
Another report claimed the Treasury is said to want the change to 68 to come in as early as 2035.
It has also been claimed that former prime minister Liz Truss believed the move would be a "silver bullet" and was initially minded to include it in her and then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's disastrous mini-Budget.
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David Linden, the SNP social justice spokesman at Westminster, described the reports as "the latest in a long line of attacks from the Tories on the UK's state pension".
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said no final decision had been taken.
Given Scotland's stalling life expectancy rates, the reported change could mean millions of Scots having little more than a decade between retirement and death.
A report by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) last year revealed that life expectancy in Scotland had fallen for the second year in a row, down to 76.6 years for men and 80.8 years for women.
The SNP's social justice spokesman David Linden said: "This is just the latest in a long line of attacks from the Tories on the UK's state pension.
"In 2014, the people of Scotland were warned that the only way to protect their pensions was by voting No.
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"Fast forward 9 years and the current state pension doesn't support the minimum standard of living, with the state age now set to rise to a staggering 68.
"This is scandalous, and must be condemned in the strongest possible way."
A spokesman for the DWP said: "No decision has been taken on changes to the State Pension age.
"The UK Government is required by law to regularly review the state pension age and the second State Pension Age Review is currently considering, based on a wide range of evidence including latest life expectancy data and two independent reports, whether the rules around state pension age remain appropriate."