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Pensions Bill

I understand the hon. Lady’s point, and she is entitled to put forward that view. I must remind her, however, that her great commitment to the contributory principle is soon to be manifested in her willingness to vote with the Government on diminishing the significance of the contributory principle by reducing the number of years of contributions needed to get a full basic state pension. No doubt all sorts of other modifications will be put in as well. The serious rock underlying the Bill is the means-testing. We can have our political debates in here, and the Secretary of State can heckle from the sidelines, but when he and the Minister for Pensions Reform go around the country, they will find that my concerns are exactly the concerns not only of the consumers who will have to make these judgments, but of the industry itself.