A CALL has been made for Haverfordwest’s County Hall to be lit up in purple tomorrow night, March 8, in recognition to International Women’s day.

The call has been made by Councillor Thomas Tudor, county councillor for the Castle ward of Haverfordwest.

International Women's Day is annually held on March 8 to celebrate women's achievements throughout history and across nations.

It is also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women's Rights and International Peace.

County Hall has previously been illuminated as a symbol of support with the Black Lives Matter campaign, for Holocaust Memorial Day, for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, to celebrate the anniversary of Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day), and to mark LGBT+ History Month.

Cllr Tudor has also asked for the March 8 illumination for this do be done to raise the issue of the protest Against State Pension Inequality iowards women, following a previous Notice of motion on this issue: Back in September 2019, Cllr Tudor submitted this notice of motion to the council: “Pembrokeshire County Council calls upon the Government to make fair transitional state pension arrangements for all women born on or after April 6, 1951, who have unfairly borne the burden of the increase to the State Pension Age (SPA) with lack of appropriate notification.

“Hundreds of thousands of women had significant pension changes imposed on them by the Pensions Acts of 1995 and 2011 with little/no/personal notification of the changes. Some women had only two years notice of a six-year increase to their state pension age.

“Many women born in the 1950s are living in hardship. Retirement plans have been shattered with devastating consequences. Many of these women are already out of the labour market, caring for elderly relatives, providing childcare for grandchildren, or suffer discrimination in the workplace so struggle to find employment.

“Women born in this decade from Pembrokeshire are suffering financially. These women have worked hard, raised families and paid their tax and national insurance with the expectation that they would be financially secure when reaching 60. It is not the pension age itself that is in dispute - it is widely accepted that women and men should retire at the same time.

“The issue is that the rise in the women's state pension age has been too rapid and has happened without sufficient notice being given to the women affected, leaving women with no time to make alternative arrangements.

“Pembrokeshire County Council calls upon the Government to reconsider transitional arrangements for women born on or after April 6, 1951, so that women do not live in hardship due to pension changes they were not told about until it was too late to make alternative arrangements.

“This issue affects many women in Pembrokeshire in total 3,800 women are affected in Preseli Pembrokeshire, including women from my ward the Castle ward of Haverfordwest hence the reason for tabling this Notice of motion to Pembrokeshire County Council.”