A GRANDMOTHER from Prestwich has criticised the government's pension changes that will see half a million women work until the same age as men as "cloak and dagger".

Sandra Wolfson, a member of WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign), says that while the group agrees with equality, she believes the way the changes were implemented under the Pension Act 1995 are "unfair" and "sneaky".

WASPI — made up of women across the country — is campaigning for the government to make fairer transitional state pension arrangements for affected women following the changes, which will add up to six years to a woman's working life.

The group argues that those affected have been given little or no personal notice and many have had no time to make alternative plans — so they have released a song to warm women that their retirement plans may not be.

Mrs Wolfson, aged 61, of Heywood Road, Prestwich, said: "It's not that we don't support equality. We do. It's the way that the government has pushed this through that we're upset about. The changes affect half a million women in Britain — many of whom have no idea.

"The updated Pension Act was brought in rather quietly by the Conservative government in 1995, meaning that women born after a certain date had to work until they are 65, rather than 60, and then they changed it again to be 66. It was very cloak and dagger and they keep moving the goalposts.

"I'm lucky that I am still working full time, but some aren't so lucky. Some may have taken early retirement only to find that they have another five or six years to wait until they can receive their state pension."

WASPI strongly disagrees with government's response — that "All women affected have been directly contacted following the changes" — so to publicise the changes, the group has written and recorded a song and uploaded it to YouTube.

The WASPI Anthem was released last Saturday and already it has more than 5,000 hits.

Mrs Wolfson, who works as a PA, said: "The group was formed by ladies that don't think the changes have been fairly implemented.

"Forty members formed the choir and made the anthem to make more women aware that they may have to work longer, seen as though the government has been so sneaky about it. It's about getting the word out to people affected — many of whom might not be on social media — and still may be planning for their retirement at the wrong age."

Watch the video here: youtube.com/watch?v=QQJPfqG_h94.

To sign the petition visit petition.parliament.uk/petitions/110776.