Women's pay and pensions must be equal to men's - Watson

4.24.00pm GMT Tue 18th Nov 2008

A key European Parliament report on women's pay has been amended by UK Liberal Democrat Graham Watson MEP, so that it calls for women's pensions to be equal to men's.

Graham was acting on the initiative of the Plymouth Senior Citizens Forum who had brought a petition to the Parliament pointing out the inequalities between the basic pensions for women in Great Britain (£49.15) and those for men (£82.05). They seek redress with the Parliament, underlining that women pensioners should not be at risk of poverty, should enjoy a decent standard of living and share in the well being of the country.

Commenting, Graham said:

"It is sad that my constituents from Plymouth had to come looking for help in Europe because they could not get it at home. The British government should be ashamed.

"Having said that, I am glad that my Liberal colleagues and I could be of assistance. It is now up to the European Commission to bring about measures that will help us close this inexcusable gap."