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Occupational Pensions

Absolutely. It is vital that the House understands the degree of cynicism that our response to the collapse of these funds has generated. I have had countless discussions in which whole families have taken part and someone has said, ““I’ll tell you what advice I’m giving to my son or my daughter: when the Government say to you, ‘Put your money into a pension scheme’, I’ll say to you, ‘Blow it! Open the window and throw it out there and go and have a good time. At least you’ll enjoy it rather than allowing it to be stolen behind Government guarantees.’”” If we fail to understand that cynicism, we are deeply damaging our prospects of bringing in new arrangements for stronger pension provisions that equate to the longer lives that we hope and expect to live in retirement. People will not play in a game that steals their life savings. These are acts of theft from people who have done what we asked. They have not been profligate; they have not blown the money: they have put it into schemes to make proper provision for their retirement. Those are the people whose cynicism we are having to deal with.