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The case for scrapping mandatory retirement ages‚ older people should have the right to work if they are willing and able.

The UK Government is in the process of deciding how to enact a European directive which outlaws age discrimination in the workplace. Any changes to UK law must happen by the end of 2006.

While this should be a cause for celebration‚ debate about whether or not the new law should outlaw mandatory retirement ages (MRAs) has led to shrill newspaper headlines‚ warning that people will be forced to “work ‘til they drop”‚ that the ‘national retirement age’ will be raised‚ and that pensions will become the preserve of the over-70s.

The fact is that at the moment there is no such thing as a national retirement age in the UK. Women can draw their state pension at 60 and men at 65‚ regardless of whether or not they are still employed.