Generation of women in debt after ‘absolutely devastating’ state pension fallout
For 3.8 million women born in the 1950s, retiring at 60 was all they knew.
Until suddenly, they learned that they would have to wait a further six years to get their state pension.
An additional six years of working none of them, including Moira Holland, had planned for.
Ms Holland had dedicated 35 years of her working life to the care sector, after gruelling and tiresome work she was ready to retire at 60 and was counting down the days until she would be able to enjoy her retirement.
Vigorous work had also taken its toll on her mental and physical health, but knowing she was a year from retiring got her through the tough days.
The devastating blow came via a letter, informing her a year before she was due to say goodbye to work, that she would have to work for six more years and retire at 66 instead.
“It was devastating, absolutely devastating,” Ms Holland tells Sky News. “We thought at 60 years old we’d get our pension.
“So I was all set up to retire, have a nice life, get my pension, be able to manage well, and then to get the letter to say no – ‘you’ve not got to work one more year, you’ve got to work six more years till you’re 66’ – was terrible, absolutely terrible.”
Ms Holland says the last-minute nature of the news has impacted her health.
“I had mental health problems and arthritis, you know really physically and mentally, I was really struggling, really struggling to work,” she explains.
“Also, lots of my friends died at 60, and they never got their pension. So on top of the health problems, I’m thinking, am I ever going to see this pension? Am I going to live to be 66? Nobody knows. So really, it was very, very heart-wrenching.”
Moira Holland
Why was the state pension age changed?
The state pension age was aligned to match men in a move praised for improving gender equality.
But campaigners from Women Against State Pension Injustice (WASPI) have long argued they were not given sufficient warning of the change, leaving millions with insufficient time to prepare or make other financial arrangements.
What has the impact been?
Exclusive data shared with Sky News from WASPI found a third of women affected by the changes are in debt, with as many as 80% saying they suffered financial hardship by the delay in finding out the retirement age had changed.
So far, 220,190 women impacted have died without answers.
Campaign chair of the voluntary organisation, Angela Madden, accuses the government of not meeting with members since 2016.
She tells Sky News: “The government has never really engaged with us. Guy Opperman was the last pensions minister to meet with the WASPI campaign in 2016, which really is atrocious given that we have lost so much through government incompetence.
“It is up to the government to change the state pension age if they must.
“There were probably reasons they did that, but not to have the courtesy to give us any notice so that we can do anything about it is absolutely disgraceful, and they should be ashamed of themselves.”
Campaign chair of the voluntary organisation WASPI Angela Madden
‘I wasn’t given the opportunity’
Last year, the Parliamentary Ombudsman found the women should have been given at least 28 months’ more notice.
It said the Department for Work and Pensions should have written individual letters to the affected women.
Ms Madden was also personally affected by the maladministration.
“Some women, myself included, chose to stop working before we knew about the state pension age increasing because our parents or members of our family required care,” she says.
“I made the choice to leave a full time job and spend some time with my mother in her final days.
“Looking back, if given an earlier warning, I would have probably combined caring for my mother and working part-time. I wasn’t given the opportunity to make that choice.
“Had the government done what they should have done and told us as soon as they knew about the law changing, then we would have all known about it well in advance and been able to make the right decisions.”
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Pensions: Your questions answered
What has the government said?
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told Sky News: “We support millions of people every year and our priority is ensuring they get the help and support to which they are entitled.
“The government decided over 25 years ago it was going to make the state pension age the same for men and women as a move towards gender equality.
“Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have supported the actions of the DWP under successive governments dating back to 1995 and the Supreme Court refused the claimants’ permission to appeal.”
Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
Leaders arrive in Kyiv by train. Pic: PA
It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.
“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”
Sir Keir Starmer, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron among world leaders in Kyiv. Pic: AP
Trump calls for ceasefire. Pic: Truth Social
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.
European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing
The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.
But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.
The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.
The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.
European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.
Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.
But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.
Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
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This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
A special constable has been jailed after taking pictures on his phone from bodycam footage showing a dying man.
Former police volunteer William Heggs, 23, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment at Leicester Crown Court on Friday after showing the photos of victim William Harty, 28, to a female colleague and storing them on his Snapchat account.
Mr Harty was found seriously injured in a residential street in Leicester on 25 October 2021 and Heggs had attended the scene, helping with CPR before paramedics arrived.
Mr Harty died in hospital a day later and the man responsible for his injuries, his brother-in-law Martin Casey, was subsequently convicted of his manslaughter.
Heggs showed the pictures he had taken of bodycam footage of Mr Harty’s body to a Leicestershire Police constable, who reported Heggs and said she did not like seeing blood.
His phone was seized and officers discovered other photographs and video clips of bodyworn footage of incidents Heggs had attended on duty, including of a knife seizure, use of baton and pepper spray, and a man with an injured hand receiving first aid.
He also took pictures of a police computer screen, showing details of crimes and suspects, without consent.
Heggs stored the materials in a Snapchat folder and disclosed graphic details – most of which were not in the public domain – about the injuries to a woman who was killed in a road traffic collision he had attended, to a friend on the social media platform.
Heggs was suspended from the force in November 2021 and resigned in October 2024 before pleading guilty to 11 computer misuse and data protection offences this March.
William Harty’s widow Mandy Casey. Pic: PA
‘He has traumatised me’
Mr Harty’s widow, Mandy Casey, said in a victim impact statement read to the court that Heggs “took (her) husband’s dignity when he was most vulnerable”.
“You don’t take someone’s dignity and pride from them on their deathbed.”
She continued: “When I found out special constable Heggs had done this, I just wanted to ask why. He has traumatised me. I feel I will never know if he showed them to others.”
Ms Casey said she was still scared that photos of her husband’s body might appear on social media.
She added that she had lost trust in the police.
Public trust in police ‘significantly undermined’
Judge Timothy Spencer told Heggs, who has autism and ADHD, that he was “probably too immature to be working as a police officer” as he handed down the sentence.
He said Heggs had received “extensive training”, including on the importance of data protection, and knew he should only share materials for “a genuine policing purpose”.
Heggs’s actions had “significantly undermined” public trust and confidence in police, according to the judge.
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Malcolm McHaffie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “William Heggs abused the public’s trust in the office he held as a special police constable.
“He violated the dignity of the deceased victims for no apparent reason other than what could be considered personal fascination and to gain credibility among his peers.”
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