Pensions Safe in Independent Scotland, UK Government Minister Confirms

Pensions will be safe in an independent Scotland, a senior UK government minister confirmed today.

Speaking at the Scottish Select Committee at the House of Commons, Pensions Minister Steve Webb affirmed that Scottish pensioners would continue to receive their accumulated rights pension regardless of whether or not Scotland becomes independent.

This is only fair. Anyone who has ever worked in the UK and paid into the system has an entitlement to a state pension no matter where they live in the world.

This statement flies in the face of the Better Together campaign who have put up billboards saying the pensions would be put at risk.

The elderly are vulnerable. Once retired, it is impossible for them to work or find another source of income. The cynical manipulation of our elderly by the No Campaign is sickening. If you have an elderly person living near you, please show them this article, because there is precious little about it in the mainstream media.

Scots have a referendum on 18th September 2014 to answer the question

"Should Scotland become an independent nation?"

The ballot box gives two choices, YES or NO.

Conservative UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said that he would not intervene, that the decision is entirely up to the Scottish people.

Scotland already has a devolved parliament, but broadcasting is not devolved. This has allowed the coalition government, supported by the Labour party, to manipulate the news.

The mainstream media is largely English-owned, and so editors follow their masters and continue to print the lies and spin coming from Westminster, in order to frighten the Scottish people into voting No.

Despite that, polls show the campaign is neck and neck, at the time of writing this (May 2014).

While the No campaign (Better Together) continue to strongly suggest that pensions in an independent Scotland are at risk, it was interesting to note how much publicity the words of Pensions Minister Steve Webb actually received.

The Britnat Scotsman put nothing in their print edition, but had this story on their website.

The only national paper to put this story in print was The Herald, whose sister paper, the Sunday Herald, recently became the first paper to come out FOR independence.

Buried in a corner of page 2, The Herald's story was slanted and negative, even though the Minister's words were quite clear that Scots pensions would indeed be safe in an independent Scotland.

As mentioned in the top photo above, Aberdeen regional paper Press & Journal also covered the story.

But for website Wings over Scotland, it is unlikely we would have known about it.

And that is nothing short of a disgrace when so many people are dependent on their pensions in order to survive.

The Scottish National Party, who enabled the referendum through winning a landslide election victory at the 2011 Scottish elections, have produced a White Paper outlining their vision of a future Scotland.

While it is true that Westminster will be responsible for paying pensions, their affordability is in doubt. There was once a pension pot where accumulated national Insurance contributions were held, but successive London governments managed to spend it, leaving today's pensions being paid out by whatever income they have coming in.

So serious is the shortfall, that the UK government have raised the retiral age at which people may collect their old age pension.

The SNP brought out a document called Pensions in an Independent Scotland which is worth a read.

In it, it suggests:

• Pensions would be same, or higher, in an independent Scotland
• The 'triple-lock', that ensures pensions keep pace with inflation, earnings and rising costs would stay in place
• Women would continue to receive State Pensions based on their husband's contributions
• An expert commission would decide on appropriate state retirement age, likely to be lower than the UK in view of Scots dying younger than those south of the Border
• Pension credits will continue to be paid to those pensioners whose contributions do not permit them a full pension in their own right.

If Scotland votes Yes in the referendum on the 18th of September, 2014, full independence from the rest of the UK is expected to be achieved by 24th March, 2016, the date pencilled in as "Scottish Independence Day".

Following Independence Day, Scotland will hold her first General Election at which the people will be able to choose whatever political party they want, knowing that their VOTE WILL COUNT, for the first time.

These are exciting times for the people of Scotland. Now they can go forward knowing that their pensions will be safe in an independent Scotland, despite what the negative No side says.