DWP State Pension age nearly raised to 80

The State Pension age was almost raised to 80 under Liz Truss, according to reports. Former Conservative Party MP and Prime Minister Ms Truss, who lost her seat in the General Election on Thursday 4 July, almost raised the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) State Pension age to 80.

Ms Truss floated the idea during talks at Westminster garden parties last summer. She reportedly told guests: “Nobody should be allowed to retire before they are 80.” The former PM lost her seat by 640 votes to Labour candidate Terry Jermy.

Ms Truss won a majority of 26,000 in the 2019 election, and was not expected to face serious pressure in this election. Ms Truss did not make a concession speech after losing her seat. But in an interview with the BBC, she said: “I think the problem we face as Conservatives is that we have not delivered enough of the policies that people want.

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“And that means keeping taxes low, but also, particularly, reducing immigration – and I think that’s been a crucial issue here in south-west Norfolk.” Asked whether she accepted any blame for her party’s fate on Thursday night, she said: “During our 14 years in power, unfortunately, we haven’t done enough to take on the legacy.

“We did particular things like the Human Rights Act that made it very difficult for us to deport illegal immigrants and that’s one of the reasons I think we ended up in the situation we’re in now.” A Conservative source said: “We’ve lost our reputation for competence, and once you lose that it’s hard to get back.”

And a Conservative Party insider said the suggested state pension age was “crazy”, as details were revealed to the Daily Mirror tonight (Saturday, July 13).