Bus pass court fight

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Bus pass court fight

A pensioner yesterday accused the Government of breaking EU rules by not allowing him a free bus pass until the age of 65. Women get the pass at 60, lawyers for Stanley Atkins, of Telford, Shropshire, told the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. This discrimination, it is alleged, breaches a 1979 European directive which provides for equal treatment between the sexes in matters of social security.

Mr Atkins will win his case if judges decide the bus pass is a social security benefit, not a consequence of the UK's different retirement age.