MPs call for former pit workers to get pension boost 'without delay'

LETTER URGES RETURN OF £2.3BN TO ‘RIGHT THE WRONGS OF THE PAST’

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

WNOTTINGHAMSHIRE'S Labour MPs have united in calling for the Government to hand billions of pounds back to ex-miners “without delay’

Campaigners previously said that six former miners were dying every day whilst waiting for pensions justice.

The Government says it is working “at pace” on a review looking at whether billions of pounds should be given back to coalfield communities. Yet those waiting for a pension uplift say the uncertainty should end immediately and Ashfield MP Lee Anderson previously said ex-miners like himself should not be a “cash cow” for the Treasury.

The majority of those who worked in the pits were members of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) and the Government announced changes for that scheme late last year, which has seen members getting an average pension uplift of £29 a week.

Cghancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in her last full budget that more than a billion pounds from an MPS reserve fund would be handed back, with billions more than the Government ever said was needed having built up over the years.