WOMEN fighting against controversial changes to pension ages brought their battle to the General Election campaign in Pembrokeshire this morning (Saturday).

Pembrokeshire WASPI (Women Against State Pension Injustice) marched from the offices of Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Stephen Crabb in Haverfordwest to Castle Square.

A small number of police officers were on had to oversee the demonstration.

Across the UK, hundreds of thousands of women had significant pension changes imposed on them by the Pensions Acts of 1995 and 2011 with little or no personal notification of the

changes.

Some women had only two years notice of a six-year increase to their state pension age. Around 7,000 women in Pembrokeshire are thought to have been affected.

On October 3, the Royal Courts of Justice announced that women in the UK had not been discriminated against when their state pension age was put back by several years with little or no notice.

A request to appeal has been lodged with the High Court.

The women were joined by Labour Parliamentary candidate for Preseli Pembrokeshire, Philippa Thompson and Labour Assembly Member Eluned Morgan.

One Pembrokeshire WASPI members said recently: “I am 60 years old and work as a gardener. I was expecting to get my State Pension on my 60th birthday until I saw the publicity in the papers from the Women Against State Pension Injustice campaign. I was horrified to read that I would have to wait a further six years to get my pension. Having had both hips replaced and an operation on both hands, there is no way I can carry on gardening for another six years. I am very, very worried about how I am going to survive.”