1 In 4 Will Die Before Pension At 70

A Quarter of Scots would die before drawing a pension if the retirement age was raised to 70 union leaders have warned.

With one in four Scots and one in three Scots men dying before they reach 70 the STUC says they would literally "work until they dropped".

And in deprived areas up to half the population would die before reaching pension age.

Government statistics reveal that in areas such as Glasgow's Shettleston, life expectancy for men is as low as 63.

STUC general secretary Bill Speirs said: "This shows the assumption the pension age will have to rise would have a staggering impact on the quality of life of so many Scots."

John Swinburne MSP, leader of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, said: "I am against people being forced to work beyond retirement age and this would force them to work on."

The STUC agreed older people should be able to work on if they wished, but not be forced to by a change in the law.

Mr Speirs added: "Any mandatory extension to the retirement age would be strongly opposed".