Ex-footballer in pension protest

FORMER Celtic and Middlesborough goalkeeper Rolando Ugolini united with fellow pensioners at the Scotland Office in a national Day of Action to campaign for a raise in the state pension.

Mr Ugolini, 84, who lives in the south of Edinburgh, started his career at Celtic and played for a string of clubs from the 1940s through to the 1960s.

He presented a letter to Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy yesterday alongside Scottish members of the National Pensioners Convention, calling for his support to secure an 80 per cent rise in the state pension to £165 per week.

Pensions are a reserved matter to Westminster and a duplicate letter was also sent to Pensions Secretary James Purnell.

George Henderson, chair of NPC Scotland, told the MPs: "As a first step, the state pension should be set above the official poverty level of £165 a week."