CAMPAIGNING pensioners in the region will today urge the Government to restore the link between pensions and average earnings.

At Newcastle this morning, the North East Pensioners Association (NEPA) and the Northern TUC's pensioners advisory group will present a 5,000-signature petition to Ronnie Campbell, chairman of the Northern Labour MPs.

The petition calls for the restoration of the link between pensions and earnings, which was broken by the Conservative Government in 1980 and has still not been reintroduced.

Andy Robertson, NEPA campaign secretary, said: "It's a disgrace that the pensioners of today, who have made enough sacrifices in their lifetime, including having gone through a world war, should be asked to make a last sacrifice by living out the rest of their lives in poverty.

"And what the Government doesn't seem to understand is that it isn't just the pensioners getting the basic state pension who are suffering.

"These people are entitled to the Minimum Income Guarantee and other benefits, but it is those who just don't qualify for the guarantee and other benefits that are in poverty."

Prime Minister Tony Blair has admitted that the link can be afforded and that the money is there, but that it may cause problems in 20 years' time.

But the campaigners argue that it is unfair to tell today's pensioners that they can not have what is theirs by right because of a possible situation in 2020.