Call for end to pension 'poverty'

Protesters want the link restored between pensions and earnings

More than 1,000 protesters will converge on Parliament later to call for the state pension to be increased above what they say is poverty level.

Pensioners and trade unions will join forces to demand a rise in the basic single pension from £91 to £151 a week.

They also want it to be paid universally to all pensioners regardless of their contributions.

Pensions minister Rosie Winterton said she wanted to "give" more - but the demands would cost some £30bn a year.

The protest has been organised by the National Pensioners Convention and 15 trade unions to mark 100 years since the state pension was introduced.

'National disgrace'

The protesters say the state pension has become even more important following the recent crisis in the stock markets.

That is because many people relying on private pensions for their retirement will have seen the value of their funds fall.

General secretary of the NPC Joe Harris said it was "a national disgrace" that at least 2.5 million older people were living below the poverty line and millions more were struggling with rising prices.

"The government should use the huge £46bn surplus in the National Insurance Fund and give everyone a pension that takes them out of poverty," he said.

They need the money to put food on the table today Dave Prentis, Unison

The unions, in particular, want the government to increase pensions in line with earnings or prices, whichever is higher.

The existing Pensions Bill allows for the restoration of that link from 2012 or the end of the next Parliament.

But Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said he wanted to see "a living pension" for retired people now.

"Telling 70, 80 and 90-year-old pensioners to wait until 2012 is simply unreasonable - they need the money to put food on the table today," he said.

Pensions Minister Rosie Winterton said the government understood that people were "facing challenges with rising costs".

But she said: "We would like to give pensioners more but we must balance that with the ability of people to pay taxes.

"The NPC proposal would cost in the region of £30bn per year in the early years. That's equivalent to an increase of around 7p on the basic rate of income tax."