The British government unveiled proposals aimed at ending age discrimination in the workplace, moving to comply with a European Union directive.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the proposed legislation would abolish mandatory retirement ages and ban discrimination on the basis of age in hiring and firing.

The proposals aim to give workers more flexibility when deciding when to retire, although they would still be able to claim a state pension at age 65, Hewitt said.

"Age discrimination is the last bastion of lawful unfair discrimination in the work place, and it will be outlawed," she said.

"In particular, we must challenge the ageist assumption that younger employees make the best workers. It is a sad fact that thousands of people in their 40s and 50s who have been made redundant (dismissed) never work again."

The proposed legislation is expected to come into effect by October 2006, in keeping with the EU deadline, Hewitt said. It would bring Britain into compliance with the mandatory EU Employment Directive, which prohibits age discrimination in employment and vocational training.

The Department of Trade and Industry said the proposals are designed to end the widespread practice of age discrimination in Britain, including help-wanted ads that seek young applicants.

The Confederation of British Industry expressed some concern with the proposals.

John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI, said age discrimination was difficult to define and there could be an explosion of cases taken to employment tribunals unless employers were given clear guidelines.

Union leaders welcomed an end to age discrimination, but said the proposals were aimed at solving a widespread problem with underfunded pension plans by encouraging workers to delay their retirement.

This plan "could lead to people working until they were 70, even if they don't want to," said Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union.

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