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Raising of the Pension Age

I did not realise that I would be the only other Back Bencher to speak. I think I will probably take a bit less than half an hour for my few comments. I congratulate the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead (Harry Cohen) on securing the debate on an extremely important issue. I do not know his constituency well, although my brother used to live there, and I have been to one of its football grounds. However, I assume that in the east end of London the problems and issues are similar to those in the east end of Glasgow. There are many questions in the debate, and perhaps not many clear answers. Perhaps we cannot expect them, but it is important that we should debate the issues. The first point I want to touch on is about individualisation and personalisation. We heard those words a lot during the passage of the Welfare Reform Act 2009. We had assurances from Ministers that people would be treated as individuals and that there would be personal care for people. However, the reality that many of us see in our constituencies is that when people go to the Jobcentre Plus office or deal with the UK Border Agency or any of those huge departments, they do not get individualised or personalised care. That is a big concern, as we deal with such a wide range of older people in society. The health of people when they reach their 60s or 70s—or even earlier—covers a phenomenal range. My mother is 82 and in very good health, but I know many people in Glasgow, East who are worn out in their late 40s or 50s because of ill health, and many other issues. Although average life expectancy is going up, as the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead said, the range of life expectancy is huge. Male life expectancy in my constituency remains at below 70. If we make 70 the pension age, theoretically no one would get there, although I accept that there is a range. Although life expectancy at the top end goes up and up, at the bottom it does not do so to the same extent. People's ability to work varies hugely as they approach retirement, as does their desire to work, but it depends on the kind of work that they have been doing. The skills of older people vary, too. They may have used largely physical skills, doing outside work in parks, on the streets or wherever, or they may have done the sort of intellectual work that we are more used to. Another factor that has not been mentioned is that of caring, and the many caring responsibilities that many older people have these days. In the past, they were often quite light—seeing the grandchildren or the great-grandchildren once in a while—but for many they are now quite onerous. As I said, male life expectancy in my constituency remains at under 70, and in some parts of Glasgow, including in parts of my constituency and nearby, it is well below that. I suspect that that is the case in other parts of the United Kingdom. Yet only a few miles away some people live for considerably longer, as they would in this part of the world.