PENSIONERS in Inverclyde are going to be hit hard by UK Conservative Party pension plans, says a senior Inverclyde councillor.

At the party’s annual conference in Birmingham this week, Prime Minister David Cameron said a future Tory government would remove the means-testing associated with the state pension and instead replace it with a new single-tier pension at £142 a week.

Mr Cameron also pledged that his party would scrap compulsory annuities on private pensions and axe the 55 per cent so-called ‘death tax’ on savings when people die.

But the SNP attacked the PM’s proposals and argued that they would leave Scots pensioners worse off.

Councillor Chris McEleny, who is the leader of the Inverclyde Council SNP group, says the £142 figure is ‘significantly lower’ than what the UK Government previously indicated it would be, and less than the £160 a week the SNP pledged in their independence white paper.

Mr McEleny said: “This is a major blow to pensioners in Inverclyde and represents a betrayal by David Cameron and the Westminster government.

“It is typical of this Tory government — if they stick with Mr Cameron’s £142 then this falls significantly short of what they had previously suggested and is far below the Scottish Government proposal of what our older people need to live comfortably on. Scotland is a rich country which can afford pension payments and the Scottish Parliament needs the powers to deliver for pensions and pensioners where Westminster continually fails.”