A FYLDE Coast MP has launched a hard-hitting campaign to boost old age pensions.

Wyre's Labour MP Hilton Dawson plans to present a petition to Tony Blair appealing for pension rises to be re-linked to earnings rather than inflation and he has organised a rally to be addressed by veteran campaigner Bruce Kent.

"The crucial issue is that the basic pension for a single person - currently £67 - would now be £95 if the link with earnings had not been broken in 1980," he said.

He also wants the basic level of pension to be brought up immediately to the Minimum Income Guarantee level of £75 - and he is urging fellow Labour MPs to pressure the Government into rethinking its pensions policy.

He said: "I get lots of letters from pensioners concerned about the level of basic pension, and while I'm pleased the government has introduced the £100 heating allowance and free TV licences for over-75s, I entirely accept the point that basic pensions are inadequate. "Although the government has set a Minimum Income Guarantee for pensioners, it does require them to claim Income Support. I would encourage them to claim it - but there are certainly problems of take-up."

He is backing a nationwide campaign launched by the National Pensioners' Convention, Age Concern and Help the Aged to have pensions boosted substantially.

"A lot of MPs have signed up to the basic principles behind the campaign. I've put down an early day motion and so have my colleagues," he went on.

Mr Dawson's pensions rally will be at Lancaster Town Hall on January 7 at 2pm. The petition is being circulated through retirement homes, charity shops for the aged and directly to people who have written to the MP before on the issue. "I would hope that everyone in the constituency will sign it," he said.

If anyone would like a petition form, Hilton Dawson asks them to write to him at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.

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