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Benefits Uprating

That is yet another division between the Tory Back Benchers and their Front-Bench team, given that their Front Benchers support the raise in the state pension age. If the Conservatives want to be a serious political party, they will have to face up to big decisions. If the hon. Gentleman is not prepared to support the consensus in the House on pensions, that is absolutely fine. I am responding to the hon. Gentleman’s first point and I shall now respond to his second. The right way for people to take up the benefit is to call the Pension Service. As I have explained, the system is far simpler than it used to be. There used to be a 26-page form and there is now a three-page form. It can be done in minutes, so I hope that the hon. Gentleman will encourage his constituents to take up what is owed to them. The previous Government used means-tested benefits as a way of discouraging people from taking up benefits; we do everything that we can to ensure that people do take them up.