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Scottish independence: Ministers urged to answer 'difficult' pensions questions Scottish independence: Post-Yes state pension would be paid 'on time and in full'
(about 1 hour later)
The Scottish government has been accused of not facing the "difficult" questions of running the state pension in an independent Scotland. The basic state pension would continue to be paid "on time and in full" if Scotland were to vote for independence.
Labour's Gregg McClaymont made the comment ahead of the SNP revealing its pensions blueprint. Scottish government ministers Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney made the pledge as they revealed their blueprint for pensions post-Yes.
It will say that the Scottish Parliament would determine the state pension age if there was a Yes vote in next September's referendum. Ms Sturgeon said a new system in an independent Scotland would take the "best of the UK system".
Voters will be asked: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" However, opposition parties accused the SNP administration of not answering the difficult pension questions.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr McClaymont said: "This is really less a proposal and more an attempt to push the difficult decision down the line. Labour's pensions spokesman, Gregg McClaymont, told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that "vague promises" had been made about the future, but the most difficult realities of an ageing Scottish society had not been faced.
"So far from the SNP on pensions we have had a vague promise on what might happen in the future rather than taking on the difficult realities of an aging society we face in Scotland." State pension policy is currently under UK government control and plans are in the pipeline to increase the state pension age from 65 to 67 starting in 2026.
State pension policy is currently under UK government control. Deputy First Minister Ms Sturgeon announced that in the first year of an independent Scotland, an expert commission would be established to consider the appropriate level of the state pension age for Scotland.
The age at which people can start to receive a pension is planned to rise to 66 for both men and women from 2018, and to 67 from 2026. She said the Scottish government was "not persuaded" of the UK government's timetable to increase the pension age.
Life expectancy Ms Sturgeon added: "Successive UK government decisions have resulted in a pensions crisis. Independence will bring decision-making on pensions home to the Scottish Parliament and provide the opportunity to do things differently and better.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a commission would be set up in the first year of an independent Scotland to consider "the appropriate pace of further change to the retirement age beyond 66, taking account of Scottish circumstances". "As this comprehensive paper makes clear, we will build on the current system and make improvements where necessary.
She told the Good Morning Scotland programme: "Under current UK proposals the pension age will go up to 67 in 2026. I am not persuaded that is the right timescale for Scotland, given our difference in life expectancy." "We are giving an absolute guarantee to those living in Scotland, in receipt of the UK state pension at the time of independence, that their pensions will continue to be paid in full and on time, as now."
Ms Sturgeon added: "If you are 53 just now and there is a No vote then you will work to 67.
"If there is a Yes vote we get the chance to review that and make sure that we take decisions that are right for people here in Scotland. That is the big benefit of being independent."