Forget about retiring at 65, says Blunkett

Millions of people were today warned they may have to continue working past retirement age.

David Blunkett said workers could no longer expect to "hang up their boots" when they reach 65.

In his first major speech as Work and Pensions Secretary, Mr Blunkett called for a national consensus to resolve the pensions crisis.

The "perception of reaching 65 and hanging up our boots" had to change, he said. "When the pension system was set up, there were 10 people in work for every one in retirement. We are now down to a ratio of four to one. In the next 50 years that will come down to two to one.

"We need to introduce schemes that allow people to come back to work. We need to encourage people to stay on part-time, to do part-time work when retired, and make sure it is not a disincentive," hea conference in Manchester.

Mr Blunkett repeated his warning that workers could be forced to save for their retirement and could not expect the state to "dig them out of poverty".