Wearside women facing a huge pension upheaval as they reach retirement age have taken their protests to the Government -; via a helping hand from Julie.

A petition from a number of Sunderland Central constituents in support of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) was submitted by Julie this week.

“I fully support this campaign as those involved continue to keep the pressure on the Government to ensure that women adversely affected get a fair deal,” said Julie.

“I was delighted to submit a petition from my constituents in support of the WASPI campaign.”

State pensions are changing for all women born on or after April 6, 1951. Around 2.6 million woman -; including 4,000 in Sunderland -; have had their pensions delayed for six years.

“Women locally and nationally are facing a huge pension upheaval, and these changes are causing real hardship for many,” said Julie.

“We all recognise State Pension age needs to increase, but people need to be given enough notice of any changes to plan for retirement – this just hasn’t happened in this instance.”

* Please drop Julie an email at julie.elliott.mp@parliament.uk if you would like to find out more or keep up to date with the WASPI campaign.