→ Final status: Denver Johnson’s State Pension petition closed on 10 August 2026 with 7,724 signatures, below the 10,000 needed to trigger an automatic Government response.
→ The proposal: The petition called for the State Pension to become available from age 60 at £610.08 a week, or about £31,724.16 a year, including for expatriates.
The Denver Johnson £610 pension petition has now closed without reaching the first major parliamentary petition threshold.
It proposed one of the most substantial changes to the UK State Pension system currently being promoted through Parliament’s petition platform: reducing access to age 60 while increasing the weekly amount to more than two-and-a-half times the current full new State Pension.
The proposal did not become government policy when the petition closed, and its final signature total means there is no automatic requirement for ministers to issue a formal response.
What Did Denver Johnson’s £610 Pension Petition Propose?
Denver Johnson created Petition 755283 under the title “Give State Pension to all at 60 and increase it to equal 48hrs of Living Wage.”
The official petition page says the Government should make the State Pension available from age 60 and link its value to 48 hours a week at the National Living Wage.
For April 2026, the petition calculated that as:
- £610.08 per week
- £31,724.16 per year
- Access from age 60
- A pension described as universal
- Inclusion of people living overseas
Johnson argued that the change would provide greater financial security while challenging the direction of policies that have increased State Pension age.
The proposal therefore concerned much more than a routine pension increase. It sought to change both when people could receive the State Pension and how much they could receive.
Readers wanting to understand the distinction between receiving a social security benefit and having an earned right to payment can also see our explanation of State Pension entitlement rules.
How Does £610 Compare With the Current State Pension?
The difference is substantial.
For the 2026/27 tax year, the full State Pension rate is £241.30 a week for someone entitled to the full new State Pension. Individual payments can be lower or, in some transitional cases, higher depending on a person’s National Insurance record and previous pension history.
| Pension amount | Weekly | Annual equivalent |
| Full new State Pension 2026/27 | £241.30 | £12,547.60 |
| Denver Johnson proposal | £610.08 | £31,724.16 |
| Difference | £368.78 | £19,176.56 |
Johnson’s proposed weekly payment would therefore be about 153% higher than the current full new State Pension.
That comparison helps explain why the petition represented a major structural spending proposal rather than simply another annual pension uprating.
The current State Pension is normally increased through the triple-lock mechanism, while entitlement also depends on factors including State Pension age and National Insurance history. The petition instead called for £610.08 a week as a universal pension from 60.
Why Did the Petition Link the Pension to 48 Hours of Living Wage?
The £610.08 figure was not presented as an arbitrary round-number increase.
Johnson based it on the value of 48 hours of National Living Wage pay each week, arguing that State Pension income should be linked to a measure of earnings and provide greater security in retirement.
That is a different approach from the existing system.
The new State Pension currently increases annually according to the highest of earnings growth, Consumer Prices Index inflation or 2.5% under the triple lock. Linking the pension directly to a fixed number of National Living Wage hours could produce a very different starting level and future trajectory.
It would also raise major questions that the petition itself does not answer, including how such a system would be funded, whether National Insurance qualifying-year requirements would remain and how future increases would operate.
Those unanswered implementation questions matter because a petition establishes what campaigners want the Government to consider; it does not itself create the detailed legislation needed to operate a new pension system.
Why Is the Age-60 Proposal Significant?
The petition’s request to reduce State Pension access to 60 moves in the opposite direction to existing legislation.
The State Pension age is currently undergoing its legislated transition from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028. A person’s precise State Pension age depends on their date of birth.
That means Johnson’s proposal would not simply stop future increases. For many people, it would bring State Pension eligibility forward by several years.
This age issue has become increasingly important for people approaching retirement who may have stopped working but have not yet reached their individual State Pension age. Our guide to State Pension entitlement rules explains why having a strong National Insurance record does not necessarily mean someone can start receiving their pension immediately.
Did the £610 Pension Petition Reach 10,000 Signatures?
No. The petition closed with 7,724 signatures, reaching about 77% of the 10,000-signature threshold for an automatic Government response.
Under the UK Parliament petition process:
- 10,000 signatures can trigger a Government response.
- 100,000 signatures can lead to consideration for a parliamentary debate.
Because Petition 755283 reached neither threshold before closing on 10 August 2026, those automatic stages were not triggered.
That is important when interpreting social-media claims about the campaign. The existence of an official parliamentary petition does not mean the Government has approved, funded or scheduled the proposed £610 weekly pension.
A similar distinction applies to other pension policy campaigns. For example, our coverage of the £12,500 pension advance explains how a genuine proposal or petition can attract public attention without becoming an available government scheme.
Could a £31,724 State Pension Still Happen?
There is currently no evidence that the £610.08 weekly figure has become government policy.
The petition’s closure ends this particular petition process, but it does not prevent Denver Johnson, supporters, MPs or other organisations from continuing to campaign for changes to pension age or pension levels through other political routes.
Any move towards a universal £31,724 annual State Pension would require considerably more than public support. Policymakers would need to determine eligibility, funding, taxation, interaction with National Insurance and the treatment of existing pensioners.
The petition page does not provide a government cost estimate for implementing its proposal, so any claim about the precise national cost would currently be speculative.
Tax would also become an important issue if State Pension payments were ever increased dramatically. The existing State Pension already counts as taxable income, making the wider State Pension tax outlook relevant when considering proposals for substantially higher retirement income.
What Happens Next After the Petition Closed?
The immediate parliamentary position is straightforward: Petition 755283 closed below the 10,000-signature Government-response threshold.
There is therefore no automatic Government response or petition debate resulting from its final signature total.
For supporters, the next development would need to come from somewhere outside this completed petition — for example, another campaign, a new policy proposal, parliamentary activity or a future government announcement.
For pensioners and people approaching retirement, current State Pension rules remain in force. The £610.08 weekly figure should therefore be understood as Denver Johnson’s proposal, not an amount people can currently claim.
FAQs About Denver Johnson’s Pension Petition
Who is Denver Johnson?
Denver Johnson is the creator of UK Parliament Petition 755283, which called for State Pension access from age 60 and a payment linked to 48 hours of National Living Wage earnings.
How many signatures did the Denver Johnson pension petition receive?
The petition received 7,724 signatures before closing on 10 August 2026. It therefore fell short of the 10,000 required for an automatic Government response.
Is the UK State Pension increasing to £610 a week?
No. £610.08 a week was the amount proposed in Denver Johnson’s petition, not an approved State Pension rate. The full new State Pension for 2026/27 is £241.30 a week, subject to individual entitlement.
Can people claim the State Pension from age 60 now?
No. The petition did not change State Pension age. Existing legislation is moving State Pension age from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028, with the exact age depending on date of birth.
Will Parliament debate the £610 State Pension proposal?
There is no automatic petition debate resulting from Petition 755283. It closed with 7,724 signatures, below both the 10,000 Government-response threshold and the 100,000 level for consideration for debate.
Could Denver Johnson launch another pension petition?
A future campaign or qualifying petition is possible, but this petition is closed. Any new campaign would be separate from Petition 755283 and would need to follow the applicable parliamentary petition rules.