Author: Alan Logue

Pensioners in Scotland get less pension – because they don’t live as long

Alan Logue

Life expectancy in Scotland is currently lower than in the rest of the UK. On average between 2010-12, a 65 year-old male in the UK could be expected to live to around 83 years 5 months compared with 82 years 11 months in Scotland, and a 65 year-old female in the UK could expect to live to 85 years 11 months whereas in Scotland it was 84 years 6 months.

According to the Scottish government, this means that “a 65 year-old entitled to a total pension of £160 per week could expect the lifetime value of their state pension to be around £10,000 (men) or £11,000 (women) less in Scotland than in the UK as a whole”.

Pension difference from UK average
Pension difference from UK average

Reaching Out to Older Voters

Alan Logue

How to inform older voters about independence issues has a number of constraints that are not true of other age groups.

Traditionally all voters have been informed by the range of daily and weekly newspapers, and the broadcasters. But with these conduits to the public often being governed by editorial and often political imperatives, the range, scope and even accuracy of the information is today, in these outlets, is being regularly brought into question.

It is well accepted, from whatever side of the argument you fall, that it is a bad situation for democracy that Scottish print media has 95%-97% of published content owned by individuals or organisations that are hostile to any change in the constitution of the UK. With this must come an acceptance, that having no requirement for partiality, their coverage will be consistently biased in reflecting promotion of the status quo, and therefore will project Scottish Independence, along with other non-establishment views, and those who advocate them, in a negatives light.

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It’s a no-brainer!

Alan Logue

Consider these two pieces of information:-

1 – A leaked UK Government report shows that a worst-case hard Brexit (apparently the UK Government’s preferred option) is likely to cost the economy of the UK £2bn a week.

2 – A majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU and keep our membership of the single market and customs union, but Scotland as part of the UK faces being taken out of the EU.

Now, the only way for Scots to avoid the catastrophic results of a hard Brexit is for Scotland to become an independent country and remain a member of the EU.

No brainer or what?

#KeepScotlandtheBrand campaign

Alan Logue

Recently there has been renewed publicity for the “Keep Scotland the Brand” campaign, and a number of members of Pensioners for Independence have started to take part. Several of us have recently contacted some large retailers like Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer and the Co-op to urge them to label Scottish produce more clearly as such, rather than as “British”. Most of the responses we have been receiving have been quite positive, and we look forward to seeing an improvement in the clear, accurate labelling of Scottish goods. We need to keep up the pressure on retailers, however. Many Scots like to buy Scottish goods whenever possible, and clear labelling makes this so much easier.

If you would like to support our involvement in the campaign, or would like more information, please contact us at info@pensionersforindependence.scot.

Photo credit: By Petar Milošević – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,