Today Backto60 launched the first of two campaigning films in the run up to their appeal against the judicial review decision in the Court of Appeal on July 21.
They aim to overturn the judicial review which rejected their claim for compensation and full restitution of their pension back to 60 which was rejected on all grounds by judges. They have been given permission by the Court of Appeal to appeal on all grounds.
The film shows how 50swomen – already waiting up to six years for their pensions – are now hit by the Covid-19 pandemic- forced to work in unsafe situations in their 60s in hospitals or care homes or left isolated facing mental health problems.
We now know through a report from the National Audit Office,Parliament’s financial watchdog, that 25,000 people were moved from hospital to care homes at the beginning of the pandemic without any health checks for Covid-19. No wonder so many died and Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer at University of Exeter Medical School, in the film condemns this as a disgrace.
The film quotes experts who have backed the campaign to point out how just how damaging the situation. You can follow them on Twitter here – @2020Comms @JackieJonesWal1 @ManzurHannah @DrDavinaLloyd1 @doctorshaib @NexusChambers @AnnaCCampaigns @SOS_Initiatives.
The overall picture is bleak – the combination of the pensions delay, austerity and now the virus- have made difficult lives even worse.
But there is also hope. Professor Jackie Jones points out that the UN Convention on the Elimation of Discrimination against Women – may well launch an inquiry into how badly the UK treated 50s women – shaming the country internationally.
The court case is likely to have to hear additional evidence on whether it was a really equal playing field if at the same time 4.6 million men over 60 are estimated by the Department for Work and Pensions to have had all their national insurance contributions paid by the government so they could get higher pensions. A government promise in the 1990s to extend this scheme to women for eight years after the change was introduced in 2010 was reneged on by the last Labour government and the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition.
The film directed by Jasper Warry at Hello Dear Productions is eminently watchable and the experts explain their points succinctly – my only apology is that you have to put up visually with me having a shaggy lockdown non hair cut!
Westminster Confidential 
Brilliantly illuminating and succinct.
Thank you for being on our side.
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Very powerful if this doesn’t get the message through to Boris and his mates I don’t know what will ?? especially with the extra ammo we have to throw at them at the appeal hearing I can’t wait roll on the 21st of july and a massive huge enormous thankyou to all who have given their precious time and support in this film for 50s Women can’t thankyou enough back to 60 and the legal team and david for your fab reports. hope we get a fair hearing and successful outcome so this nightmare can finally come to an end.
🤞🤞🙏
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Hi Joan have you claimed your pension because you have to apply for it yourself now. If you are 66 now you should be able to get it now. go on to the DWP site if you have got the internet and check it out. you maybe entitled to other benefits depending on your situation.
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I hope that we win the appeal , the only thing I am worried about is the length of time it will take , if it goes on to long a lot of us might not be here to benefit if we win , no when we win , xx
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Thankyou David grateful for all you do from a 50sWoman
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You look like a mad professor but it’s the words that count and boy did you make an impact. Thank you 👏👏👏
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As a 1950’s woman surviving on almost nothing, I am pleased this is going ahead & pray for a successful outcome.
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The recommendations from this Government are that the over 60’s are vulnerable so the fact that women are still having to work in areas where they are on the front line is wrong.
Us 1950’s women have lost up to 50k by not having our pension at 60 with no notice of the change so no chance to prepare for the circumstances we find ourselves in.
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Thank you for the help , I have tried to remain optimistic throughout this ordeal , I have lost all my independence since I turned 60 , I am now 64 and wishing my life away precisely 1.5 yrs to go , I have had to downsize and use my husbands savings to live on its embarrassing , I hope we get justice , amazing to have you back us up I remain very grateful .
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I am in the same situation. My confidence so low that other than not seeing my girls and grandchildren nothing has changed. Lack of self respect has turned me from a spontaneous outgoing extrovert into a lonely reclusive introvert. I have no income at all. All of our savings were put into downsizing with no mortgage, ready for my retirement. I am totally reliant on my (fully supportive) husband of 6 years. Never have I felt so worthless and demeaned.
Thank you BackTo60 for giving me a voice. Thank you David for your continuing support. Thank you legal team for giving me hope
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Brilliant video!! Covered every aspect of our discrimination against 50’s women! Well done to you all! If this doesn’t secure a win next month, then the government and justice system are in cahoots and totally corrupt!
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Thanks for all your efforts. Much appreciated.
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The powers that be just want us all to die to save them money
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What a fantastic film David and fills me with real hope. I read your last article about the autocredits for men. I really hadn’t taken it all in as it was very complicated but your explanation on the film was great!
I find it disgraceful that 4.6m men were given their state pension at 60 yet most of us are waiting till 66. This must be brought up at the court in July as it proves we were discriminated against.
Keep up the great work David and thanks.
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Unfortunately no man got his state pension at age 60 Elaine. I got an autocredit but it made no difference to my state pension as I already had more than enough NICs – David has just kindly explained this to me. I still had to wait till I was 65 as well to get anything from the state.
Good Luck with your appeal though.
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Great movie, great message. Good luck to Michael and the team in getting justice!
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When can we expect to see the second film? Thank you doesn’t sound like enough David, I wish there were words that truly express how grateful we are. Without you we would all still be in the wilderness. Your parents will/would be so proud of you.
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Great film and retweeted
I pen this:-
It speaks The TRUTH the whole TRUTH and nothing but The TRUTH
roll on The Appeal 21/7
Thanks to you all
All the best from The #BATTLEBUS1950’s
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Well we said right at the beginning “we are going nowhere” and we certainly have not, we will fight them to the end !!!! We have all paid for our pensions and our pensions is what we want !!!
Thank you to all who have fought so hard for us and are still fighting now. Thank you David for your wonderful reports and your tireless backing, it is very much appreciated. Roll on July, really hope the 💩💩💩💩 hits the fan and throws it in the governments face !!!!
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I hope there will be justice for us, I’m 62 nhsforced to work till 66,( not enough notice to save to still retire when we planned for) by which time I will have paid in for 50 years, still working full time as can’t afford to cut my hours, . How can they say we should work till 66 but when covid hits we are higher risk over 60, I have asthma, had a stroke 2 years ago, husband worked nhs too now disabled and severe depression but I’m still having to work, disgusting and forced labour.
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Same with me but only able to work part-time as on top of that l have an adult autistic child to care for and elderly parents. Then my husband after taking early retirement and getting an inheritance has decided to walk out of our lives and divorce me. I am unable to get any legal aid or afford to pay a solicitor. My private pension pot was already rather small and is now almost worthless thanks to COVID-19. My husband wishes to only allow me 50% of our home for over 32yrs and keep all of his assets and excellent private pension and other property. I have diabetes, asthma and arthritis life was already bad without all this now the threat of removing the triple lock on top of the T.V license at 75yrs then it will be the heating allowance and bus passes and then there is the social care mess to worry about. I am unable to see a good future for myself in old age whatsoever.
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I Thank you Mr D Hencke, for your efforts. I was born 3-3-56. I would like to know what the Government Ministers think? A woman of my age working in a Drs Surgery Receptionists, and what is classed as a Hot Surgery, which I feel the Health Minister will understand without looking it up. When people much younger were able to work from home. Including MPs. Mr Mansfield, I wish you well in our case. My heart goes out to you. I had no idea about your daughter, I am sorry.
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Brilliant Film and so many strong arguments supporting us 50s women, I can still remember the horrible sinking feeling in my stomach when we were last in court and the outcome was announced. I pray on behalf of us all we get our day in July, we have waited long enough and owe it to those who are no longer with us to fight to the end. Thank You David and everyone for keeping our case going, this time it feels different as we have gained lots more support but it is scandalous that we have had to suffer so much to get this far.
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Brilliant film!
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Thank you.
And now those of us forced to go on the London tube every morning have had the 60+ Oyster suspended, so we have to pay to go to work too!
On Sat, 13 Jun 2020, 11:12 am Westminster Confidential, wrote:
> davidhencke posted: ” https://youtu.be/p5yNgRQ3XPw Today Backto60 > launched the first of two campaigning films in the run up to their appeal > against the judicial review decision in the Court of Appeal on July 21. > They aim to overturn the judicial review which rejecte” >
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Yep and I am a key worker so now not only do I have to risk my life on public transport 5 days a week half the time I have to pay for it! So much for “NHS heroes etc”
Not to mention because for various reasons money is tight right now so I have to leave early and get the bus!
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This film says it all. I work in a high risk job. I am nearly 61 years old. My husband should have retired at 65. Is also doing 12 hours shifts in a high risk job.
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Thank you so much for all the work that you and all the teams are doing. I was born 19.11.56 and like all of us still working:can’t get full time jobs cos I’m too old so have two part time jobs in retail. Let’s see what happens in the Court of Appeal.
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@David Hencke
You said in the film that 4.6m men took money from autocredits. I was born in 1946 and got one autocredit to take me up to 44 years that I was told I needed to get a full state pension. I didn’t get any money though. Can you advise what the money was that I should have got please and how I go about getting it?
Fully support the women by the way.
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Jack really puzzled by this. If you had already got 43 years contribution as I understand it you already qualified for a full pension. So you wouldn’t have got have got any more pension for that extra year. I know I was told for the last four years when I was paying NICs as self employed that it wouldn’t make any difference to my pension as I had already contributed enough.
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Thanks David. I think the confusion lies because the requirement was reduced to 30 years from 44 years in 2010. When I had last checked I needed 44 years. So basically even though I got an autocredit I wasn’t entitled to any money? I got the impression from what you were saying that we all got money at age 60. Sorry for the confusion.
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Jack – so glad to read your post as my husband is in the same position as you and we were confused over what David was saying. He was born March 1953 and apparently got 2 autocredits but never received any extra money. Now we know why as he already had over 40 years NICs anyway.
@David Hencke – do you know how many of the 4.6m men that got autocredits actually got any money in the end?
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Rachel, sadly the answer is no as the DWP did not provide the information. To be fair they did say some people who got the auto credits had already enough years to get a full pension, and some died before they could claim their pension but they did not quantify the figures – but it can’t have been huge numbers.
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Thankyou for all your hard work on my behalf.I hope we get justice on 21st July.😊 I started work at 14yrs old in a shoe shop on Saturdays.Always brought up to have a good work ethic,went nursing at 17yrs old.Born in 1956 was due my pension next year,but now the government has raised age to 66!!!.Am depressed and heart broken. When will this farce end? Seeing this film has given me hope.❤🤞
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If ever there was a time for Government to reconsider the injustice of the treatment of 50s ladies it is now.
With unemployment about to sky rocket, would it not be prudent (not to mention logical and more cost effective) to pay us our dues and let the unemployed have our jobs?
I may be naive but due to the current situation I, for one, would be glad to hand over the gauntlet of employment.
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Cant we take this to the Court of Human Rights.
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Cant thank you all enough For being with us.
I personally have had to work so hard just to keep going at work 64 next week and feel like am falling . .after a long career in NHS .
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At 64, asthmatic. To be left as NHS Nurse and all the risk is outrageous. In direct contradiction to WHO. Paid in 48 years. I deserve so much better from this Govt. Thank you David and to all at Back to 60.
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Thank you for sharing this. I’m sure we’ll get justice eventually. 🙏
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Thank you David as a co habiting lady,I was denied any help by the state during 5 years with no pension. I had cancer twice during this time.My partner was forced to keep me!
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Thanks, David and all involved in the film. Powerful stuff. I hope, rather than expect, to win in July. I don’t trust this Government though and would think that even if the case is won, they will just delay things further by appealing, in the full and certain knowledge that more of us will die off, saving the Government money, before they will ever pay out.
I was born in 1956, went out to work at age 16, have 49 years of NI contributions when I last checked, but cannot receive my State pension until 2022. I am about to be made redundant and will have 19 months to try to survive without any income. The only jobs around here are in the local supermarkets, just about the most dangerous places on Earth right now!
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Excellently put, Thank you everyone who has put so much into the fight for us ladies of the 50’s who have lost out on our retirement pension. I left school at 15, have worked till November 2019 when made redundant. Old Boss couldn’t pay out redundancy and I had to ask for Universal Credits. The staff in the job centre treat you shockingly, they make you feel ashamed to be asking for help, it’s like it’s their money they are parting with. I have every faith that you succeeding in July, and I can’t thank you enough.
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Really well done 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻, thank you so much for all your dedication to fighting this and hopefully we will expose the lnjustices suffered by us 50s women by successive governments who have put us in this situation. My prayers for a successful outcome in July.
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I am now 66 years old and had to wait from my 65th birthday last year 2019 till March 2020 I lost my job in Feb 2020 and have no income now and desperately looking for a job …if I do not get one I shall loose my house on which I still have a mortgage… I expected my pension at 60 and had budgeted for that… Now I am knee deep in debt and really not well enough to work but I have to. I was NEVER informed of the change in pension age! I am now depressed and cannot see a way out … better to be dead than to live this life in constant fear of loosing every thing I have worked for since the age of fifteen.
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I suppose I’m lucky but not getting my pension at 60 as I expected combined with losing my partner and having to pay for the funeral, then losing my job because a manager just wanted to sack someone and me wanting time off which was inconvenient for her at 58 then hitting 60 with no pension meant I had to spend my pension savings so I am now 62, been lucky to get a decently paid full time job the last year (And I know at my age that really is lucky). I used to think when I got my pension I could get a part time job to top my private pension and my state pension up a bit….
Now I have no private pension, no state pension and have to hope my health holds out until at very least I can get the state pension I was promised ages ago I’d get when I was 60 and then well? I’ll get probably the minimum so I will have to keep working as long as my health lasts
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What a sham.
Pay and pay and pay
Discrimination to the nth degree for women
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