Retirement at 70 if Conservatives win

Employers will have to allow employees to continue working until they are 70 if the Conservatives are elected on 5 May.

From 2006, companies will be barred from imposing arbitrary retirement below age 65. Shadow pensions secretary David Willetts said he was "minded" to extend anti-age discrimination laws further.

The Conservatives want to encourage more people to save for retirement, but experts say working longer is the key to affordable retirement in the future.

Speaking to the BBC News website, Willetts said he believed that workers should be encouraged to work for as long as they were able to.

He said he would like to consider gradually extending the age at which retirement could be made compulsory to 70.

In December, the Labour government announced that age discrimination would be banned for anyone under the age of 65 - but rejected plans to go further after representations from business.

Workers over 65 would be permitted to request staying on beyond this compulsory retirement age, although employers would have the right to refuse.