The Heartbreak of a Pensionless Pensioner

(Go to 'home' page to read all blogs. Scroll down and start with Page 2, working upwards, then, go to Page 1, working upwards. Also, please note, I now FULLY & ONLY support the wonderful 'BackTo60' campaign, NOT the WASPI campaign spoken of below)

I guess we all have to die of something....but...I never, in my wildest dreams, ever imagined that I might die from having my pension removed for SIX YEARS by the most brutal, evil and repugnant government, nay, not government, but 'regime', ever to have ruled Britain in my lifetime.

It is April, 2016 and I am 61 years old. I have now lived without my pension for over one whole year. I will NOT be able to live without it for another year, let alone the *further* FIVE YEARS I've been 'sentenced' to by Millionaire Ministers who do not care if we live, or die.

I am just one of millions of women born in the 1950s who have had their pensions denied to them at 60, for SIX YEARS. 60 is the age we have lived our lives being told would be our retirement age.

In 1995 it was decided women's pension age should rise to match that of men, thus, we went from 60 to 65. Government did NOT TELL US though, not a single one of us, ever.

In January and February this year, the DWP told me that they had not sent out ANY letters EVER, regarding the 1995 Act. They only started these official letters in 2011, even stopping these between April and November that year, due to concern over the content of them. I am willing to swear this under oath in Court and/or to take a lie-detector test to prove this is true.

ONLY in 2011 did they send out official letters telling us we'd be 66 before we retired. Most had no idea they'd even be 65, let alone that they'd have 5, then 6 YEARS put upon them before they could get their pension. Some have SEVEN YEARS!

They informed a few people, by CHANCE, in 2009, in letters concerning other details, but that was all. I know, I have one such letter and the age rise is given just one tiny paragraph in this letter concerning my National Insurance contributions, which is what I had asked about initially.

Government have now ADMITTED that they did NOT inform a single one of us, yet STILL they refuse to help us, despite KNOWING that so many of us are DROWNING out here.

In fact, they are doing their best to Hold Us Under....

This is my story....

I have been a Carer to Nanny, my now ex-mother-in-law, (who is 101 years old) for the past 15 years, she moving here to live with me after our divorce. My time as her Carer ended a few months ago..and thus, I suddenly found myself thrown into the gutter, spat on by my once Beloved Country, turned from Carer to Scrounger within weeks.

I was given the normal 8 weeks 'grace' period after you stop being a Carer, when you are given Income Support which includes the amount given as Carer's Allowance. During this time, I searched frantically for a job, filled in SO many applications online, endless forms, endless questions, endless (ridiculous) psychology tests, sending so much information about myself off to total strangers, not hearing a WORD back from most. I sent out DOZENS of applications....

The ONLY job I was offered was a Zero Hours one which legally gave me NO protection at all, for I could have been phoned up in the morning to find I was not needed for that day, for that week, even, were times quiet. This would have meant that any Working Tax Credit would be thrown awry too, along with Council Tax Rebate. Thus, endless phone calls, more forms to fill in, more and more confusion and stress.

When my Income Support ran out, I applied for JSA. THIS is what some of the Pensions Ministers have said we should go on, feeling that this is RIGHT for us to endure for SIX YEARS until we reach their new pension age given to us! (You can only claim JSA for 6 months anyway)

HERE is what EVERYONE applying for JSA or ESA is put through...and please, do NOT tell me this is RIGHT for ANYONE, let alone for 60+ year old women who have raised their families, cared for their elderly relatives and paid over FOUR DECADES of NI contributions!

THE FORM

*I* did NOT fit into their boxes, for you have to have had a 'real' job within the previous 6 months. I was a Carer, thus, I had no boss, no address, nothing that fitted their boxes...and my last 'real' job was in 2011, which would have ruled me out of getting JSA. Nanny needed me at home full time by then. She's registered blind (macula degeneration) and just could not be left for whole days or many hours.

So, I rang them up and we did the form over the phone....it took AGES..and it also took AGES to get THROUGH in the first place, having to talk to a bloody ROBOT who kept asking questions and giving examples of the answers I could come out with! PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!

Well, I finally reached a REAL person and the form was filled in, they too finding difficulty in where to put me, but they sorted it eventually. God alone knows how many questions I answered...dozens and dozens...my life going into boxes yet again, tick, cross, cross, tick, yes, no, no, yes, no, no, no.........

Then, I was given an appointment for an interview at my local Jobcentre. This was on a Friday. I went. Whilst waiting, I sat next to a lady who had just had her ESA stopped. She was in a terrible state. She was registered partially sighted, had a very bad leg, making it so hard for her to walk and countless other illnesses. She looked really poorly....

I almost started The Revolution there and then, so INCENSED was I

My name was called. I went to talk to the lady who called me. She was kind, The System was not. I HAD to attend a training course for 2 days, 6 hours each day, on the following Monday & Tuesday, elsewhere in town, at a course called 'Eat That Frog' (GEEZUS!!)...this was, apparently, an 'employability' course, where I'd learn how to do Interviews, etc......

I took a deep breath, resisted the urge to say "You CANNOT be SERIOUS?!" and explained that I was almost 61 years old (I now am) and thus, I KNEW how to do interviews. MY problem was GETTING an interview in the first place, as my age meant I couldn't even make it past the internet version of the 'paper sift'...and there are many jobs I simply CANNOT do now either, due to age/health, etc.

I then asked how much this course was costing. The lady told me I'd probably self-combust if I knew...and she diverted my attention to my signature, asking me sign on a small screen so the computer would 'recognize' me next time, when I had to 'sign on'. My signing on day was the day after the course days...Wednesday.

She told me it took about 4 signatures for the machine to recognize me. TWELVE signatures later, it still didn't know who the fuck I was! It took TWENTY signatures, by which time I had smoke coming out of my ears over the idiocy of this madness! I'm left-handed, thus I have to write backwards, every single day, to fit into a right-handed world, meaning that my writing is very untidy and my signature is barely EVER the same, each time I write it, because the stress of writing backwards, even 60 years later, is enormous as it messes up my natural brain pattern..

But, I digress.........

I mentioned that with that day's visit to the Jobcentre, plus these 3 new visits to courses and to sign on, meant I'd have to spend almost £20 on bus fares and I didn't have the money! You can't claim bus fares back from Jobcentre visits...so, tough. I could for the course, but that would probably have involved many more forms, signatures, computers exploding over my writing and having to prove who I was via my birth certificate, or passport, driver's licence (don't have either of the last two) or whatever else insane documentation is required on the day the moon is blocking out the sun!

Yes, I'm getting MORE stressed as I write this..........

Well, by the time I got home, I was in A Right State of nerves, anxiety, depression and ANGER, bloody FUMING ANGER, the sort where you can't sit down, because, damn It, I SHOULD have my PENSION not this Feckingly AWFUL STRESS being laid out before me!

This state of mind, of being Out of My Mind, continued through the entire weekend and on Monday Morning, I CANCELLED learning how to Eat A Frog and went back to my GP instead, sobbing all over her (AGAIN!) and she gave me a sick note...because I've been under her for depression for a few months now, after I began to realize that NO WAY was I going to get a job in my 60s!

I rang The ESA folks up.

By now, I HATED Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons', the music The Robot lets you listen to whilst telling you how to phone in the early morning when it's less busy!

It WAS THE FECKING EARLY MORNING and STILL I had to wait and wait and wait!

Evenutally, someone answered.

We filled in ANOTHER FECKING FORM!

I sent off my Sick Note the same day...

Nothing happened.

Days passed.....

Nothing happened........

I rang them back..........

Shut the FUCK UP, Vivaldi!!!!!!!!!

"Why not ring us early in the morning when we're less busy!"

It's Springtime in VivaldiLand...and all is FAR FROM WELL!

"For example, you can tell us you're phoning us because you have a problem with your form, or you've been overpaid, or you have another question to ask us...."

AAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

FINALLY, I get through, to a lovely lass...her MUM is one of us, one of The 1950s women, so I tell her about The WASPI Campaign, of the five lovely lassies who came together to give us a voice to shout and scream with, to demand something is done about the shocking way we've been treated and to get our STOLEN pensions given BACK to us. She said she'd be sure to tell her Mum....and told me my claim was almost ready, but it was being dealt with by Caerphilly....odd, as I live in Devon, but apparently, they move things round the country when busy, so Plymouth was now sending things to Caerphilly.....and...........................

We ended the phone call....

By now it was around the 11th of April. I'd had NO MONEY coming in since 30th March.

So, I contacted my local council, applied for a 'Crisis Grant' to help with food, etc.

Guess what?

Yes, ANOTHER FECKING FORM!!

EVERY sordid detail of my decline into ScroungerHood was required, every inch of my life written out before me.....before I could press 'send'.

I sent.......

Next day, I got a phone call from them. They could not help, for I had the audacity to have £109.00 in my bank account. I sighed, told them that £100 of this was for Direct Debits and it was about to start coming out any day now. She said that didn't matter, I had money there that could be used for food and thus, they could do nothing. She suggested I apply for a loan from other sources. I asked how I'd pay back a loan with barely any money coming in. She avoided that. She also avoided explaining why the head of the council, our Tory Mayor, spent £20,000 on ONE FECKING PALM TREE not so long ago, having it shipped over from Spain! THEN, not bothered by the outpouring of RAGE from The People, he went and ordered another 12, at a cost of £12,000 this time, for them all, (far smaller ones) sticking them in the dual carriageway into town where they remain to this day, choking on traffic fumes.....This man owns 15 houses, 2 fields and a couple of garages...but *I* had £109 in my bank account, and even though I was shortly to have only £9 of that left, I had to GET A LOAN !!!!!!!!

So, I had to go back to ESA again, to ask for an emergency donation of my claim......

Yes, you guessed it....

Vivaldi, I'm sorry about this, but FFS, I now HATE your music!

Robot Woman greeted me...I resisted the urge to tell her to just FUCK THE FUCK OFF, for my BP was OFF the scale by now, as was my Sugar Level...and being diabetic, this is, of course, lethal !!

FINALLY, yet again, I got through and asked for help....

GOOD GOD!!! That I am having to go through this shit at 61 years old just beggars belief!

This time, I got a SourPuss, but I managed to keep relatively calm, explained I had NOTHING to live on and could they please HELP! I could sense her pursing her lips, doodling the word 'bloody scrounger!' on her notebook. She told me I'd be sent £39 by 6pm that evening...and we left it at that, but not before she also told me that this would be deducted from my £73 a week in 4 stages, of just over £9 a time. (!!!!)

Well, the money came through!

I threw caution to the wind and bought fishcake and chips!

So, HANG ME!!!!!

Then, yesterday I found over £40 had gone into my account...and I had NO IDEA why, but it was from the DWP!

So....

Yes......

You guessed it......

I phoned them back..........

It was STILL SPRINGTIME In FECKING VIVALDI LAND and Madame Robot was STILL Robotting, but EVENTUALLY I got through, this time to a very nice young man in Norfolk....He hummed and haaaed and finally tracked this payment being for JSA, the tiny bit I was owed before I'd gone on to ESA...and he told me there was another £20 or so due to go in today from ESA, or possibly JSA, to make up this, or that...and that tomorrow my FULL ESA of £73 and a few pennies, times 2 weeks, would be going in, seemingly without the £9 odd being clawed back for the emergency funding bit....at this moment in time, although it will undoubtedly happen later....

Well, slap my buttocks with a wet, depressed fish, because everything's depressed around me at this moment in time....

Today, I woke up ALMOST feeling that today I could COPE, just a fraction, for a few hours...BUT....then...the POSTMAN arrived and he brought with him another FECKING FORM!

Oh, but this was no ORDINARY Fecking Form!

No!

THIS is a 'Capability For Work Questionnaire', you see

It has TWENTY PAGES of QUESTIONS!

Of BOXES to fit yourself into, for YOU have had THE BLOODY CHEEK to be SICK, you see, to be DEPRESSED, to be SUICIDAL, to have ended up being Pensionless Pensioners made so ILL by having their pensions STOLEN that they can't even THINK STRAIGHT any longer....and therefore you will now be Weighed, Measured and Undoubtedly found to be WANTING!

You see, Mr. Postman brought me a form which asks me if I can walk, climb stairs, use my hands, raise my arms above my head, deliver orders, warn of dangers, etc.etc.etc.......

So far, I can't find the section marked "Are You Fecking Off Your Trolley With STRESS Yet?" but I'm SURE it's here somewhere!

WHEN I've finally Filled In THIS FECKING FORM they will ASSESS it to see if I need Further Assessing by Health Professionals (Hold on, my GP KNOWS I'm NOT fit for work, as does my depression counsellor!)..whereupon I'll have to find my way to where The Assessors Live and Be Bloody Assessed, from the moment I arrive, my movements, my attitude, my appearance, my answers, my eye contact, my EVERYTHING!

After THIS, no doubt, they'll deem that I AM Fit for work..and...thus...just like that poor lady in the JobCentre, way back up this War & Peace Epic of The Pensionless Pensioner, I'll have my ESA stopped and THAT will mean I'll have to RE-APPLY for JSA..

And we all know what THIS will mean, don't we?

Yes, that's right, back to the phone...to Vivaldi, to Phoning Early, or Late, or Mid-Day or Mid-Way, to explain who I am all over again, in case some Poor SOD is trying to PRETEND that THEY are ME and I'm not ME AT ALL!!

Vivaldi's Springtime all over again....Springtime For Hitler In Paradise.....

Miss Robot......Robotting ALL OVER ME!

ENDLESS DAYS of NO MONEY

ENDLESS DAYS of DEPRESSION

ENDLESS TRIPS to my GP again.....

Sick Notes,

Back to ESA

Refused

Back to JSA

Refused (only 6 months of this allowed anyway)

ENDLESS DAYS OF NO MONEY AGAIN, NO JOBS, Condemned to Death, basically....and the WHOLE INSANE, BARBARIC CYCLE will start all over again, because I DARED to be born a WOMAN and be born in the 1950s and The Murderous Misogynistic Ministers have taken out their Misogyny on US....which breaks my heart because I've stood up for men for AGES now, against the Radical Feminists who put men down ALL the time....and now, I'm caught in the outpouring of HATRED against Feminism......"You wanted equality, so you can have it, with BELLS on!"

There's talk of a 'deal', of taking our pensions early, but at a vastly reduced rate, for LIFE! PUNISHMENT....FOR LIFE..on top of ALL this punishment ALREADY? FOR LIFE? WHERE is the APOLOGY? WHERE is the PUTTING THIS RIGHT? WHERE are OUR PENSIONS?

You see, EVERY day the MONEY for our pensions keeps on Rolling In, but WHERE is it being siphoned off to?

So, David Cameron, Steve Crabb, George Osborne, Shailesh Vara, Ros Altmann, Priti Patel, Steve Webb........and Ian Duncan Smith, the foul man who is DESTROYING our once caring Welfare State, whilst telling people he is a HERO for the vulnerable (!!) THIS is what has been done to we 1950s women...and THIS 1950s woman has saved this country around £500,000 in Care Home Fees after caring for Nanny for 15 YEARS and for my Darlin' Dad for 3 years to his death, alongside raising my children, home-educating them both eventually too, due to terrible bullying and exam stress....

THIS is what it was all for! To be sent to HELL in Older Age....

And you 'Ministers' think this is RIGHT?????? That GOOD WOMEN who've done EVERYTHING that was expected should be put throught this SHIT because YOU ALL DECIDED that THIS is what would happen? Because YOU made a HUGE MISTAKE, NOT US??

You have NO IDEA what you have done to us, nor ANY CARE either

We should NEVER have been involved in this MADNESS AT ALL,.and ALL women who have spent their lives thinking they'd retire at 60 SHOULD retire AT 60. Many Eastern European countries have delayed these changes until 2040, knowing the chaos and extreme hardship it would cause doing this too early.

It is INHUMAN to raise anyone's pension age by FIVE YEARS in ONE GO, let alone 6/7. Only the very, very wealthy could cope with this...and even if we HAD known, which we didn't, most of us could NEVER have done anything anyway, having young families, no private pensions back then for most women, future divorces ahead.

I had SIX years notice of a SIX YEAR increase in my pension age. That's the same as putting my age up by ONE year EVERY year for SIX YEARs on the trot, basically.

Gross Negligence has caused this....DELIBERATE NEGLIGENCE in my eyes...and now, this has become SO SERIOUS that every single politician involved in this shocking CARNAGE of The 1950s Women is, in my view, GUILTY OF GROSS NEGLIGENCE MANSLAUGHTER for many of us WILL die because of what you have all been a part of...and instead of apologizing to us, putting right this shocking EVIL wrong in days/WEEKS, you turn away...and laugh!

GROSS NEGLIGENCE MANSLAUGHTER, when someone KNOWS what they are doing carries a huge risk of people dying, but they do it anyway....

EVERY single one of the Ministers mentioned above KNOW the DESPERATION I and others are in, for I've told them. I've either phoned them, leaving messages on their answerphones, or I've emailed them, or I've spoken directly to their secretaries/assistants, either in London or their own constituencies. You ALL KNOW. There is not a single one of you who can turne around and say you did not know.

You see, I have now HIT that iceberg....the ship is sinking...and the lifeboats are filled with evil ministers who've ensured THEIR PENSIONS are VAST and WELL PROTECTED, whilst those of the 1950s women are being used for INSANE IDEAS, HS2, bulldozing council estates to replace them with private ones, Endless Invasions, HS3, Hinkley Point, Thatcher Museum, Private Jet, EU leaflets...£BILLIONS being WASTED, whilst we are DYING OUT HERE!

There is TRUE EVIL going on in the country my Beloved Dad fought for in 1939...and he would have tears running down his dear old face, were he here today to see what has become of his daughter, of the daughters of so many of his fellow men who went to war AGAINST the very kind of minds who now rule his country....what has become of his dearly loved country....

When I went for my first interview at the Jobcentre, I was early...so I went into Oxfam and there I found the story of Harry Patch, the last WW1 veteran. I bought it for 50p...and I kept Harry's sweet face staring up at me throughout that interview....to remind me that ONCE, my country was filled with HONOUR and INTEGRITY, of GOOD people like Harry who 'Did Their Duty' for their country, in the belief they were making a difference, ensuring a better life for all, just as my Darlin' Dad did too in the next war......

And now, here we are with Barbarians in Power.....those who believe 'We WILL do WHATEVER we want!'...and to HELL with their People.

I guess though, that these people have the same sort of minds as those who sent so many of Harry's comrades to their deaths...who viewed other humans in a totally detached way, just as we are now being viewed too, for there is not an OUNCE of concern for us, nor the sick, the vulnerable the disabled, the dying.

Just a contempt for us all.

WHAT happens to us when we cannot claim JSA, nor ESA, nor can find jobs? Would these Inhuman Ministers like to explain this to me, please, because the very system they have ALLOWED Iain Duncan Smith to design is KILLING many of us out here, by NOT allowing us to claim benefits when we NEED to, benefits which MOST of us have PAID for via our NI contributions, just as we also pay for pensions this way too.

My heart is broken...it is shattered into a thousand pieces....and right now, I'm too tired and too upset to even check for mistakes in this blog, so you'll have to have it 'raw'...for my words are an Open Wound, A Waterfall of Tears...

I can't take much more, I truly can't......

But, I have another FIVE YEARS of this SHIT to endure before these Crooks give me my pension..and in that time, they'll have stolen around £50,000+ from me, from all of us.

I don't think I have a hope in hell of making it...

I hope WASPI will take them to Court and ensure that when our pensions ARE returned to us, by law, they will also be returned to the children/families of any women who have died whilst being denied what is rightfully and legally theirs.

UPDATE:  The wonderful BackTo60 campaign IS now taking govt to Court, with Michael Mansfield, QC, representing us.  There will be a hearing regarding a Judicial Review on 30th November 2018.

We have to be prepared to 'Go To War' over this, to NOT give in...to NEVER let them get away with this Scandalous Crime, which should be on the FRONT pages of EVERY MAJOR NEWSPAPER in the UK now, NOT in their 'financial sections' We need to hold MASS Beg-Ins, mass Sit-Ins on The Bridges Of London in protest, perhaps?

This evil HAS to be stopped somehow, for, to quote from the wonderful Show of Hands song: "There are Cutthroats, Crooks and Conmen running this gaol...."

Wake UP, Britain, men and women all, fight for your pensions too, do NOT let them just add years and years on to your ages, for this is so, SO wrong.

Only by all coming together will we find our way back from 'Cutthroats, Crooks & Conmen' to Honour, Honesty and Integrity.

Meanwhile, as we continue in our despair, these Corrupt, Discompassionate, Disconnected, Disassocated Bastards & Bitches sip their champagne and continue with their wealthy, protected lives....

We are truly in Marie Antoinette Times again....

The WASPI Women already have their Anthem out there, but soon, it will be joined by another song.....

Do You Hear The People Sing, Ministers? You will do, very shortly.....and it is a song you will never forget....

Lizzie - The Pensionless Pensioner

Comments

[Honey]

i wont get SPA until 67! I literally found out early this year. No formal notice from DWP just from the Twitter and Facebook world. Worked all my life cared for sick husband and raised four children. did everything right. Really looking forward to being 60 and swopping my council flat for a smaller one in a quiet area. Church and travelling. Divorced. Arthritis and sevre depression. Tried all that ESA/JSA etc. it broke me I cried & stumbled home. £1,500 put into my account from JSA at 9.00am and £1,500 recalled by bank at 9.30am! Am now a medicated basket case! I wont survive another 7 years.

[Lizzie Cornish]

Dear Honey, I'm so very sad...and angry...to read your story. Do you know about the wonderful #BackTo60 campaign? They are now taking Govt to Court, a Judicial Review already in place, awaiting the judge's decision, hopefully in about a month or so now. Michael Mansfield, QC, is representing us. Please, do NOT give up hope...and also, please know that you are NOT alone. Here's the main website and they also have a Twitter and FB page too: https://www.backto60.com/

[ruth]

im in the same boat no notification given years back just a letter a year before I 'retired 'to day no pension till I'm 66 others I went to school with whose birthdays are early in the year got tgeir pensions but I must wait . I decided due to health issues that life was far too short to wait till 66 , I may not even make it that far . I, like many others , have decided that the government want us gone by the retirement age so they dont have to pay out at all . so what happens to all our contributions ?? are they paying our MP's pay rises of 11% , whilst we exist on pennies and food banks ?? pay us what we are due

[Lynne Mayne]

I feel your pain... I am in exactly the same position... to continuously tell me to retain on computers (a new career) at my age is ludicrous... well said... and signed x

[SUE PARKIN]

So unfair and so badly handled by the so called government.

[Gill Kennett]

Your story and experience sounds exactly like mine and I'm in the same boat as mine,waited 4 months for JSA,applied for scores of jobs with no luck,can't sell my house and the rudeness and incompetence of Jobcentre and DWP staff beggars belief.Have sold almost everything I own to survive.

[Rosie Dickson]

Well said Lizzie. I have experienced this too. No contributions based JSA despite 40 years contributions because went overseas for a year to work within the last 2 years. Worked for another year and still not eligible. DWP work a year in arrears. Cant get a job outside my specialty which I'm no longer fit for but not sick enough for ESA. Worked since 15 never claimed a day of benefits before. Occupational pension means ineligible for income based stuff. Meetingwomen in the same boat and volunteering for WASPI keeping me sane.x

[belinda]

1000% correct... perfectly described... and my biggest annoyance is that NO ONE told us when they raised the pension age. However, stuff you government... sorry, regime... I sold my house in order to live - I WILL survive in spite of you and I'm going to COLLECT my pension at 66... just to spite you!

[leoni]

the article is wonderfully wrote and so true indeed. I have just turned 60 on the 10th July. I suffer with terrible arthritis and other problems, but i am fit for work,another 6 years of work. I have worked long and hard enough and i have earned my pension, so where the hell is it

[Bob]

Really good read + an eyeopener for many .......Time to sack the corporate democracy...... The people really have to get off their knees and do something about the Disease that has taken over OUR supposed Democracy

[celia]

What a great article! I am having to sign 9n tomorrow 8 am always filled with dtead. They can sanction your benefit that is, not even getting your pittance. All th8s at 60, i is a nightmare the clerk said we have to treat every c7stomer the same as if 20. Unbelievable! So creul and mean! Mps of course 5ht 8s, females can retire at 60 transtitional Allowances, maybe we should move to k8nder poland

[elena blue]

Under the Tories anywhere would be kinder. Even bankrupt Greece has better Pensions than we do.

[likiangreen]

I had to wait to 62 to get my pension, Whilst caring for my disabled husband. soon as I got my pension I lost my carers apparently over 60s can not care for someone! This government has treated woman of the 50s with utter contempt, disabled and dying with ruthlessness. When I listened to you on the radio you said it like it was and exactly as I would have done. just had to say well said..

[elena blue]

"...soon as I got my pension I lost my carers apparently over 60s can not care for someone! "

OMFG. These Tories have to be voted out. Please vote Labour; just today #JC4PM announced he is keeping the Triple Lock on our Pensions. Tories are going to remove it and increase taxes.

[theia]

This is all strangely familiar to me! Made redundant from a full time job at 62. Even down to that infernal computerised signing on thing - it never recognised my usually fairly readable and recognisable (to humans) signature and I began to feel that I had some rare neuro condition I did not know of to add to my rising stress and equally increasing physical ailments. Or maybe I have no soul, or don't exist? At any rate it is a perfect way to start the process of becoming invisible yet expected to keep trying to find employment somehow until we possibly drop, if all the sanctions and inevitable poverty has not killed us off first. Completing a hospital admission form, I was painfully reminded of my new found status or lack of - "unemployed" is the new me and on the page sounds worse than saying it. Nothing is being achieved by all this, for anyone, I accepted one pension age rise but the second is beyond a joke and unfair. A colleague received her pension at 60 and is not much older than I am, I missed the boat like so many others and here we are struggling with a system we have dutifully paid into and now the rug has been pulled.

[Rowena Mellows]

What a fantastic blog, you feel for this lady at every step and she has hit the nail on the head about the effects of this pension change is having on us all in our early 60s. Well done

[Eileen]

Excellent blog Lizzie and so very true we have been well and truly shafted

[Dave Clifford]

What a brilliant and poignant article. From my perspective, it is just another example to reinforce my existing conviction that you couldn't trust the state to organise a piss-up in a fucking brewery.

Of course, we are all living longer and, of course, we have an ageing population which in future years will be reliant on an ever smaller population of younger working people. However, the pace at which the government is responding to this problem has nothing to do with dealing with it rationally and sensitively. It all to do with meeting its manifesto commitment to reducing the deficit as quickly as possible, a deficit which was built up by successive incompetent governments. As always, it is the most vulnerable who are paying the price of such incompetence. I wish you all the very best, Lizzie. Bless you.

[Theda]

I note that there's a report in the news today saying that mother's can't afford to return to work due to being unable to afford childcare… So what happens to their pensions… will they be penalised because they have children. I think this is also an area which affects women more than men… they are usually the ones bringing up the kids and caring for parents, etc...

[Theda]

I note that there's a report in the news today saying that mother's can't afford to return to work due to being unable to afford childcare… So what happens to their pensions… will they be penalised because they have children. I think this is also an area which affects women more than men… they are usually the ones bringing up the kids and caring for parents, etc...

[Carol]

Well reasoned and articulate blog Lizzie. I had to wait till I was 62 and a half to retire. My partner who is younger than me will be 66 unless they keep moving the goal posts. My daughter and son in law will probably be over 70 if they are allowed to retire at all. All of us have worked all our lives, I started at 15 ,paid for my own O an A levels then served this country as a Nurse and Care homes manager. I resent the fact that all my and my families efforts amount to nothing as we are robbed of our rightful time for ourselves in later life. Well done for highlighting this governments cruelty to all the vulnerable.

Bless you

[Frances]

I was born March 1954, had been working since I was 15, made redundant twice due to privatisation and cutbacks! I have paid all my NI contributions and taxes all my working life. I should be retired now but the first change said I could retire at age 64. I thought well I should try to manage until then...but NO the government have moved the goalposts yet again so now it will be 67! This is robbery and any other organisation cheating us in this way would be brought to Court and prosecuted. It is in fact deception as we had been led to believe that we would retire at 60! Many of us had made plans many years ago and we were given NO notice of these changes plus nothing in writing. We should take the government to Court and fight for our rights. I am worried like all of us, how are we supposed to survive?

[Trish]

I was born in March 1955 so like you I do not get my pension till I am 66yrs. I work for myself ,mobile hairdressing ,its hard work and not all chat and coffee . I think its so unfair and cried reading your story . We entered a contract with the Government , paying tax and national insurance ,most of us starting work at 15 yrs old and that's why we got our pensions at 60 YR OLD its a disgrace

[Caroline]

I am working full time self employed on corruption of this Government, and have been for seven years, but I do not get paid for it. Please see website: 'Alice through the Broken Glass' ...... www.alice-through-the-broken.weebly.com

[Elizabeth Szewczuk]

Bless you,Lizzie.
I started crying (again) halfway through reading this. There on the page was all my rage, my hurt, my fears.
Like you I'm,61 this year- a pensionless pensioner- a person who foolishly used to believe I was a good citizen, good wife, mother, grandmother, until the Government designated me a scrounger, and the kind of woman, who by failing to secure a comfortable, well paid, secure career by age 60, had suddenly become the wrong kind of woman, an inconvenient woman.

Your rage is more than justified. A few days ago I learnt the fate of an acquaintance- single, 62 years old and for the past two years on pretty much the same journey as you- ESA, then JSA and training courses etc etc. Then I heard she had died. It doesn't bear thinking about, does it. The last years of your life hounded for being that brand new category of deviant- a unemployed woman over 60.

Apart from all else we can accuse this Gov of we can also accuse them of political incompetence. It takes a special kind of genius to radicalise older women, to turn grandmothers into political activists. But if you intend marching on Westminster anytime soon, Lizzie, then I'm with you.

[June Roberts]

I am the same age 62 in Nov born 54....I relate to every word and couldn't hv put it better myself. ..am so overwhelming angry I need to retire badly still caring for mum hv no one else to help financially done everything right all my life not enough words to describe my disgust at this regime. ..its not a government. Well done for putting into words how we feel...proud to be a WASPI fight on xx

[Theda]

I ran out of oil more than a week ago… just as the weather turned cold- typical! I don't have enough money to buy oil… so hard to budget on a tiny income. I am sitting here typing with a hot water bottle on my knees... freezing cold at the moment and worry that my blood will thicken up and I will have a stroke as a result. I never imagined I would feel so vulnerable at 60. My future looks very bleak...

[DAVE WILCOCK]

I spend my days helping people earn money from the internet. I even do all of it for people who cant do it themselves. I can help you "earn/make" additional cash, which will relieve your problem a bit. I dont know how much money you need each month but i know i can help you pay some bills. Please get in touch if this is of interest to you. After a short phone call you will understand exactly how it works and then you can make your decision if you would like to take part. As i mentioned, i also do everything on a profit share basis, so this could be truly a help for you. I dont have a pension, i have never made any pension contributions to the state, as i have never trusted the state to pay me back my own money. So, at 49 years of age, i have put something in place that means, as long as i can press keys on a keyboard, i will never be in your unthinkable position. I hope you get to read this as i know i can help you and relieve some of your pain. Here is my number - 07806429999 and my name is Dave.

[cswhyman]

just so sorry i too do not get my pension till 2020 so fed up with it all. but did you know if you are 60 and over and work 16 hours you can claim working tax credit.found out from a friend went on line did survey to see if i could claim and i could so rang them and i know get it not a lot but all you ladies try it was by chance i found out so sharing with you all
x christine 1954

[brian]

I agree with the words in the blog, but the questuon is why do so many vote conservative as they did in the last general election, and are favourites to win the local elections in may.

[Sean Doyle]

This is a testimony that should never have had to be written. I feel utterly disgusted with and contemptful against our callous fascist government. I am so sorry for you Lizzie. Thank you for sharing this. I will do my best to make sure others hear your plight and find out more about WASPI.

[Kay]

I feel the government has stolen 6 years of my pension I work full time, I was hoping to go part time I got a mortgage and usual bills to pay.
I am 60 years old wish this could get sorted!!!

[Comfort Litha]

Hi Lizzie, I was 64 today. Been where you are for 4 years now. I was 64 today. I didn't have enough electric on my key to charge my wheelchair up so I could go out for a birthday walk with my daughter and grandson. I was 64 today. If it wasn't for the food parcels put up by 5 local churches I would not have eaten. My dad was in the RAF during the war. He lost his carefree youth, his relatives and his friends in order to keep the country safe for his children and his children's children. Too sad n tired to hold my thread together. Sorry.

[Gretchen]

I left the UK when I was fifty AND YET I know that retirement age for women is being equalised with that of men!

[Lizzie Cornish]

So you think that putting SIX YEARS upon us is right, Gretchen? With NO *OFFICIAL* NOTICE, whatsoever, until 2011?

[Jake Webster]

As women have been fighting for equality with men for years, you have now got the same retirement age as me, stop moaning and live with it, why should YOU be different! You wanted equality YOU GOT IT ENJOY!!!

[Pete McElroy]

I think you would have been just as furious if the UK government had raised the retirement age for men to 70, without telling anyone. The main complaint is that the rise in pension age was put in place in secret, without telling those who would be affected. If you are an employer, Jake, I challenge you to offer full time properly paid work to women in their sixties who are struggling to survive without a pension.

[Susan]

It isn't about equalising pensions to the same age. It is about the method. This increase hasn't just affected women born in he 50 but their partners too. We planned for our retirement based on information from DWP. The 1995 2011 and 2013 have changed qualifying years automatic credits. Increasing qualifying years by 5 years with only three years to pension age means it is impossible to qualify. Please don't think we are whinging we are suffering hardship and we have worked and paid in and brought up families and never had to claim benefits before.

[ellamurphy195853@gmail]

Dear Jake,it is nothing to do with equality,its the speed at which it has been brought in for women of ourage who have aalready paid 40+ years national insurance so far,we lost out on building up our pension pots due to raising families and caring for relatives etc,when I started working in 1975 my retirement age was 60 when I retire at 66 I will have been paying contributions for 48 years,perhaps if I had known that then I might have asked the likes of you to stay at home and lose YOUR pension rights...there is no equality here

[Lizzie Cornish]

Oh...and how many of your family have you cared for, Jake? Most women are The Carers, looking after the elderly relatives, the children, so we take low-paid, part-time jobs, or become full time Carers, existing on low incomes, so that we can care for others....Some men do this too of course, but in the main, it's the women. I've done it for 18 years, 15years for Nanny, 3 yrs for my Darlin' Dad, to his death. My Dad was a man you should SO aspire to be like, for he LOVED women and protected them, would have been SO ANGRY to see this happening........

[Lizzie Cornish]

Thank you, Jake, for showing everyone EXACTLY the kind of mindset I speak of in my blog, where I mention the Misogynistic Ministers who think EXACTLY as you do. I could not have wished for a better post. Please also note though, that I do a LOT to stand up for men, so before you attack me, or leave Misogynistic Ramblings on here, best to do a bit of Internet Investigating first...perhaps? Otherwise, people will think you are just a Misogynistic Prat on a Day Out. I do NOT do Misogyny, NOR do I do Misandry either. I'm VERY grateful to all the bloody wonderful men who are standing right beside us, standing up with us, for us...because they can see the deep injustice here...May I suggest you learn from them.

May I ALSO suggest you understand that what is going on here also affects MEN, for not so long ago, were a man to become unemployed at 60, he was able to claim Pension Credit (as much as his pension would be) until he was 65. NOW, he has to be the same age as the new pension age for women, so that's 63 at present..and soon, it will be 66, of course...This means that MEN TOO will be left with NO SAFETY net whatsoever, forced onto JSA/ESA for MANY YEARS, spiralling into depression and debt, same as us.....

Shooting your own gender in the foot is perhaps NOT the best way to go.......And please also note that govt is saving even MORE £BILLIONS by sending MEN into HELL too...Meanwhile, the money for ALL their Pension Credit and OUR pensions is STILL ROLLING IN EVERY SINGLE DAY, but being siphoned off into whatever new Insane Scheme Osborne has decided upon this week/month.

Do have a nice day....and trust me, buddy, you've picked the WRONG woman to try and shit all over!

[Lizzie Cornish]

On the contrary, they have EVERY OBLIGATION to ensure they FIRST consider the implications of such an horrendous age rise upon ANY of their People...and they have an obligation to FULLY investigate the IMPACT of such a huge and life altering change, from EVERY angle, to ENSURE that they are not about to rain Mass Manslaughter upon the very people they are not only there to PROTECT, but also to SERVE, for politicians, of ANY calibre, are PUBLIC SERVANTS, there to SERVE The People, as we, as women, ARE People, Jen.

The government writes to us about MANY things, I have a Rainforest full of paper from them, Council Tax, ESA, JSA, Child Tax Credit (from the days I received this) Carer's Allowance & Income Support (again, from the days I received this), Working Tax Credit (ditto)...HMRC writes instantly if they think YOU owe THEM money....YET, you seem to think it CORRECT that NO GOVERNMENT writes to inform ANY woman that she is having FIVE YEARS ADDED to her pension age, in ONE GO...when any FOOL would be able to work out that many, MANY women would NEVER be able to get through those extra years on barely anything at all?

Truly, you think this is OK?????

If you do, then I pity you for Accepting The UnAcceptable, because when such a LIFE IMPLODING DECISION is taken...and this was the very FIRST such decision in our lifetimes, it is morally..and legally...WRONG in EVERY way NOT to ensure that all those who will be so terribly affected KNOW what lies ahead.

Even LAWYERS were UNAWARE, Jen! Do you KNOW this? MANY women had their divorces based on them retiring AT 60. Indeed, you will STILL find '60' as being hailed the retirement age for women on a DWP site itself, no less!

ANY government that thinks it has NO OBLIGATION to inform its People, in such circumstances, is NOT a Democracy, nor is it a Caring government. It is one that has utterly Lost Its' Way...and sadly, many governments, since 1995, have been thus and should ALL be hanging their heads in shame over what they have ALL been a part of.

[Jen]

The government has no obligation to write to individuals about changes in law.

[SillyB]

I got my equality in 1976, when I did 3 shifts alongside men and had to work harder than them to prove myself and put up with the sexual harrassment that came with it, so don't talk to me about equality! You obviously haven't read the posts about the unfair way they have phased in the new ages and moved the goalposts twice without informing us!!

[SillyB]

NK, I know that the pension changes came about 21 years ago, read my previous post. What you fail to appreciate is, that the goalposts have been moved twice, without notice. None of my generation were told of these further two changes. We should have been given between 10 and 15 years notice of any further changes. Yes, I was given 12 yrs notice, (only by chance), that I would be eligible at 63. When I was nearly 63 I found out, yet again by chance, that they had moved my SPA to 65yrs 3months, without any prior notice. So tell me how that is fair? The 12 months from Dec '53 to Dec '54 is an anomaly, in that someone who is only 6/7 months older than me will receive their pension 22 months before me, how is that fair? You are a lot younger than us 50s generation, so have plenty of time to make provision for your pension, okay, we were told 21 years ago, but we did not receive the notification of the second and third changes to the SPA. So some women who did expect to retire at 61, 62 or 63 who had made provisions for that age, were then left with nothing to cover them for the extra 3, 4, 5 & 6 years added to their SPA. Some of them have since been divorced, widowed or were single and cannot find work to see them through the wilderness years. You talk about your generation having to support the pensions of those who have gone before, what do you think we've been doing all these years?

[Lizzie Cornish]

We weren't told though, govt has even admitted this now. A minority of women found out because they, or their partners, read the financial papers (where most of the info was put), which most of us never read. The DWP told me they SOLELY relied on a bit of publicity, sending out NOT A SINGLE LETTER officially, not until 2011 and even these were stopped between April and November due to concerns about the content of them. Many of us had young families back then, my son was 1, my daughter, 8, so I wasn't watching The Political World at all....most of us weren't. We've been treated appallingly and now, the Private Pensions Industry and the govt are doing their best to turn younger generations against us. It is the most obnoxious situation, it truly is.

[SillyB]

I too am a 1954 woman and would like to take the likes of NK to task. Yes it was mooted in 1995 that the pension age for women would be brought into line with men by 2020. However, what he (I am guessing that by the tone of the comments, that it is a he) fails to appreciate is that we were never officially informed of the new dates we would become eligible for our State Pension. I did not find out my new pension age (63) until 2003 and that was only because the DWP wrote to me to say I was 2 years missing in contributions, which was not my fault, a previous employer had not paid mine and its other workers NI contributions before going bankrupt. Once the deficit had been proved in my favour they then informed me that my Pension Age would be 63, being 49 at the time I thought it was an inconvenience but had plenty of time to make other arrangements. It wasn't until I sent off for a pension forecast prior to my being 63, that I found out the goalposts had been moved, yet again, and I would have to wait another 2 years 4 months until I would be entitled to my pension, for which I had paid full stamp from starting work after leaving school. I hope I live long enough to claim my pension, and get out what I put in, as I have been fighting cancer for the last 9 years. So NK and your kind, think before you judge what you obviously don't know about!!

[Susan]

It seems to me that the DWP isn't fit for purpose. Whoever drafted the last set of Pensions Acts is totally incompetent. In France I would have received my pension at 61 + 3 months. Here it is 63+3months. France is a weaker economy so the Govt can't use the excuse there is no money. Any changes have to be brought in gradually. It is obvious the harm these punitive measures have caused. I'm not a policy maker but it is just common sense.

[Lizzie Cornish]

NK, are you SERIOUSLY telling me that you ACCEPT being given a DECADE longer for your pension? If you are, then you deserve to have this thrust upon you! NO Government has the right to do this to their People, whilst they spend £BILLIONS on INSANE PROJECTS and ENDLESS WAR! Do NOT accept this, NEVER just blindly accept...and also, please know that you are being deliberately led to believe that YOU will suffer because of US, as that is how they are turning each generation against the next.....

There is a wise Native American story of a Wild Wolf who is captured and put into a cage. She has her cubs in there. She spends the rest of her days trying to get out of the cage and back to the freedom she KNOWS is out there. Her cubs though, do not. To them, The Cage is their Normality....it is all they have ever known..and thus, they ACCEPT their fate, passively.

YOU, NK, are a Wolf Cub. I am The Wild Wolf...and my wisdom to pass on to you is to FIGHT EVERY DAY for your FREEDOM, to go back in history, LEARN what it was like, to SPEAK to The Elders, or 'Old Fogies' as you may prefer to call us...and REALIZE what is being done here.

What they have done to us is abhorrent and TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE in EVERY WAY...and what they are ALREADY planning for your generation is even worse. IF you just 'accept passively', then they WILL walk all over you. If you Rise Up, they will back away from your cage, and you may even find The Key to unlock yourself and set yourself, and your own cubs, FREE.

[NK]

Sorry, I made a typo in my last reply, I meant *21 years ago, not 25.

[NK]

I'm sorry but you're wrong, I'm not a man. I'm just one of a generation that in its old age is going to be worse off financially than the ones before it, because the generations that came before are going to have better pensions that started earlier and are more generous, pensions that we will have to support. Our retirement age is going to be at least a decade after yours already, and will probably increase, I accept that and thus I find it hard to have sympathy for someone complaining about an increase in pension age that was announced 25 years ago. As I said previously however, I do sympathise with the age discrimination that goes on in the workplace. If the government expects people to work longer, attitudes need to change and more opportunities need to be made for older workers to continue working if they need or want to. It is disgraceful that the first thing a recruiter sees might be age and then throws the application in the "no" pile. The older generations have a lot to offer, and it should be recognised and made use of.

[NK]

Sorry but the pension age has now been set at 65 for the last 21 years, with plenty of ways to find out about it. Unless someone has lived under a rock or been a hermit for all that time, it was really very easy to get information on that part. The rest of us who have been born in the 70s and 80s are going to have to work until we're in our 80s at the rate things are going, and we're going to have to support an ever-growing older population, who are going to have more generous pensions and will have been able to work until only 65. I do have however have sympathy for your situation with the ESA and benefits etc. the work system is going to have to change to recognise that age isn't everything when choosing candidates for a job, and that there are going to be more and more older people looking for work as time goes on.

[Lizzie Cornish]

No, it hasn't. The pension age, at present, for women, is 63. There was, apparently, supposed to be 'gradual transition'....Er, would you care to explain to me how SIX YEARS is 'gradual transition'? Very few of us would EVER have been able to save up to see us through these 6 years of NOTHING, even if we HAD known...We already had LIVES, children...many went on to divorce thus finances were devastated, some had nothing for most of their lives. NO IMPACT ASSESSMENT, to use the modern expression, was EVER undertaken, nor thought about. They didn't give two hoots....

We should NEVER have been brought into this ever...

They COULD have equalled the age to 60 for all, thus helping men, who tend to live slightly shorter lives overall....or even made it 62.5 for all, with still gradual transition for women.

They COULD have said that ONLY those born from 1995 ONWARDS would have the new age, thus doing away with all this mathematical chaos of them trying to work out the unworkable....

But ALL they did was give transition for some..and 'years' is NOT GRADUAL TRANSITION, it's YEARS! And then, to HELL with everyone else, whom they deemed to be Necessary Collateral.

Well, BUGGER THAT FOR A GAME OF SOLDIERS, because if they think that we're going to let them treat us thus, they've another thing coming!

THIS is how you respond to The UNacceptable, NK, not 'Oh, I meekly accept another 10 years, Sire!" as you seem hellbent on doing..

[Lizzie Cornish]

Yes, your last sentence says it all.....
Time for The Peasants Revolt II.

[technopeasant]

state economics doesn't work this way. austerity is a political tool to take from the poor and disadvataged, so that it can be shared out amongst the ruling class. taxes are cut for the wealthy, corporations are subsidised, MPs get pay rises, while anyone who has the audacity to ask for help, or even the pensions that they paid for when they were working, are slammed down, treated like criminals etc. These people want a return to Downton Abbey reality.

[Jane Edmunds]

I am one of the luckily ones of the early 50s and only had to wait a year for my pension. I cannot believe the injustice of what the government has done. I have contemporary friends who have had to continue working or go through the same process as yourself.

[Lizzie Cornish]

It's just terrible, Jane, but thankfully, we grow stronger every day in numbers...and in RAGE too....I'm glad you managed to escape it though....albeit with an extra year. None of us should ever have been brought into this and ALL who have lived their lives believing they'd retire at 60, as they had always been told, SHOULD retire AT 60. Onward and Upward... xx

[Lizzie Cornish]

Thank you, Lynne... xx I'm a 44 year woman too. Unbelievable what they've done to us, it truly is. Criminal, truly criminal...for it's not just taken our pensions, but so many women are living on the remains of their savings, so they've 'stolen' those too..or have had to sell their homes, or have been evicted..are becoming so ill....They've taken EVERYTHING from so many of us...our health and our lives....They must NOT be allowed to get away with this. xx

[Lynne]

Lizzie,
You should become a freelance journalist!
Admittedly you will be taking the job of a much younger person - but what the hell, the younger generation don't seem to mind and someone's got to do it!

Let's all put our vast experience to work, but be sure to earn just enough to pay the minimum NI stamp - we don't want to be overpaying taxes and NI because we have already been fleeced once - we won't be so stupid this time - we can take it easy and earn just enough. (Like a lot of the young are doing right now with their 16 hours lark - you can't get any of them to work an extra hour - so maybe it's time to take a leaf out of their book and take life easy - I won't feel guilty because I've paid full stamp for 44 years now with no time out, so this is a much better solution!

[Bernice]

How true we have worked so many years and now have to put up with this shit. The men and women of this government should hold there head in shame. I am one of those women born in the 1950's I feel perhaps we should go to the courts of European rights. Maybe one day they will be accountable for there actions. I to have written several letters and spoken many times about this unfair justice.

[Lizzie Cornish]

I absolutely agree with you, Bernice. I feel that taking them to Court is the ONLY way to get this sorted. They have behaved appallingly. TRUE LEADERS would be falling over themselves to apologize to us and put this right straight away...Yet, they do nothing, despite KNOWING we're drowning...It is unbelievable, it truly is. British Govts have become SO arrogant now, they all believe they have the right to do whatever they so choose and to HELL with The People. Well, The People are now fighting back and it's WAY past time for us to become like The French, who KNOW their politicians are their Servants, NOT their Masters.

[Lesley Hindmarsh]

Thank you Lizzie Cornish. I too am one of the 1950s women. Still haven't had any notification. Shame on this government.

[Lizzie Cornish]

Isn't it just AWFUL, Lesley...NOT TOLD, Lives IMPLODING, yet they sit there on their Thrones Of Arrogance, ignoring us all......Well, they won't be ABLE to ignore us for much longer....for we will NOT 'die quietly'.....

[Lil]

I have rheumatoid arthritis in my hands. I had to fill out that ESA WC form. Even on the computer it took me over a week. If you are rejected for ESA, demand a mandatory reconsideration IMMEDIATELY. You only have a month, so do it right away. There are people out there who can help you. Citizens Advice can too.

[Lizzie Cornish]

Thank you, Lil, I will be going to the CAB, as you suggested. I'm so sorry that this is happening to you too. It's just awful that they are forcing people who have such conditions as yours to 'prove' they have them. I read today of a young man who has to go and prove he has no legs! WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THIS COUNTRY????? Worse, WHY is everyone putting UP with it? We should be out on the streets in our MILLIONS....It is prepostorous what is being done to our Welfare State, to our NHS, to sick, disabled, vulnerable and elderly people.

It's like a Bad Dream that I can't wake up from......

[helen]

Bless you, keep fighting.xxx

[Lizzie Cornish]

Thank you, Helen. xx

[Janet]

So sad Suppose I was lucky in a way had to wait two years What a dreadful way for us to be treated - worked all our lives and can't get what we're entitiled to - yes entitled to - it's not some sort of gift it's what we've all worked for Let's hope that we get what we deserve

[Lizzie Cornish]

Well, lucky only in the sense of it not being six, Janet, but they've still stolen around £12,000 from you, which they have NO RIGHT to do..and forced you to work those extra two years, if you were able to work, that is. You are absolutely entitled to that money back, it's YOURS...and these crooks must be brought to justice....They are bullies and thieves in my view, who are totally out of control now. Onward and Upward xx

[Ali]

Lizzie Cornish you are a fantastic woman. The world is a far richer place with you in it. Please hang in there & keep posting.

[Lizzie Cornish]

Thank you for your kind words, Ali. Apologies for taking so long to getting round to answering everyone. I'm still trying to work out how this blog actually works (!) (gentle smile) I'm no different from the many other women out there who are boiling over with rage, other than I always write my emotions out, I guess...I wear my heart on my sleeve and injustice drives me bats!

My Darlin' Dad used to say to me, when speaking about Hitler, "Sometimes, Liz, some things are so evil that you simply cannot walk away. You *have* to turn and make a stand"...and that's what we're all starting to do now.

The WASPI Campaign is what gave us our voices, uniting us....and now we have become a ROARRRRRRR!

[Dawn Chamberlain]

You have spoken and suffered on behalf of British women. I can visualise and sympathise with every painful step. My hate and contempt matches yours Xx

[Lizzie Cornish]

The Anger is awful, isn't it, Dawn. It gnaws away at you...every day...because, basically, our pensions *have* been stolen and our lives imploded because of this...and those who have done this are spending our pension money on anything they so choose....We have to sit inside our Imploded Lives WATCHING these crooks do this....Just, GRRRRRRRR! xx

[James Donaghy]

Very touched. If there were the same number of women as men in parliament they might have been more reluctant to do this. My petition asks for just that measure.http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/takeaction/770/138/359/

[Kate cooper]

Well said!You have voiced the traumatic life of these women sacrificed without a hope.Myself Me and my younger sister are both affected but our elder sister has had 6years of retirement with a full pension so £56000 better off than we will ever be !!its a total disgrace when you see how much goes abroad in aid it's all so very unjust ,we should be given priority for claims to just help us live a life.The whole pensions debacle is a total bag of .... For the likes of us.Keep strong xx

[gillianelizabeth07@googlemail.com]

What a powerful blog. The govenment should be ashamed of them selves

[Julie Mack]

ALL of us,unless born with a silver spoon rammed up every orifice,are affected by this grossly negligent farce of a gov. We have to get them out!
They've spent ££££'s on spin,to convince us that Socialism is 'extreme'. To me it's the moderate way,Capitalism and Communism being the real extremes

[Alayne Worrall]

Pease read this, everyone! I found it difficult to get to the end as I couldn't read for tears running down my face.

[Elizabeth Newman]

As a woman luckier than you (born in the 40s) I am fuming with rage on behalf of all the cheated generations, the old and the young. 'Do you hear the people sing" is my anthem too, and I wish your WASPI group all the success you deserve.

[jools]

I had only a year of this after I was made redundant a year before I was allowed to take my pension. It nearly drove me daft and it is so much worse for those who have to wait even longer. Rats to them!