The UK Government has dismissed proposals to make the state pension available from the age of 60 or to increase payments to £586 per week. The response came after an online petition, which garnered support from over 18,800 people across the UK, was posted on the Petitions Parliament website.

Denver Johnson, the creator of the petition, suggested increasing payments to match 48 hours each week at the National Living Wage rate of £12.21 per hour. This would provide more than 12 million people currently receiving the state pension - and those over 60 - with £2344 every four weeks, equating to £30,476 annually.

This proposed increase would also apply to approximately 453,000 retirees whose state pension has been frozen at the point of emigration due to the lack of a reciprocal agreement with

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