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Millions Will Work Until 68 For State Pension - Evening Standard

Millions of Britons could be required to work longer to qualify for a state pension, David Cameron has warned.

The Tory leader hinted that a Conservative government may fast-track plans to raise the retirement age from 65 to 68.

Underlining his priority of tackling the dire state of public finances, Mr Cameron also suggested that the Tories would curb public sector pensions.

The age at which people will receive their state pension is already due to rise from 65 to 66 by 2026, to 67 by 2036 and 68 to 2046.

But former Confederation of British Industry chief Lord Turner, who drafted the current timetable as part of his pensions review, recently declared that he wished he'd been bolder in accelerating the dates.

Mr Cameron hinted that he agreed with the peer. “Lord Turner has said that if he had his time over, he would have been more ambitious,” he told a Financial Times conference.

He added that raising the pension age was an issue “where you really do want to proceed, if you can, with consensus”.