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Pensions Bill

I want to add my voice to the general consensus in support of the Bill. I am sure that that includes the Liberal Democrats, although they sometimes say one thing and then do something completely different. However, I am willing to believe the warm words uttered by the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws), and that his party will support the Bill later tonight. Consensus is important for a Bill like this. We get the chance to re-engineer the architecture of the entire pension system, in a way that covers both state provision and private occupational pensions, perhaps once every 50 years, so we must make sure that we get it right. Some changes will be inevitable as the years go by, but I hope that the solution offered by this Bill, and by the subsequent legislation to introduce personal accounts, will remain fundamentally unchanged for a long time, so that future pensioners get a fair and equal settlement. I have been a member of the Work and Pensions Committee for six years, and it has been interesting to see how the emphasis in the pensions debate has shifted. In the early days, that debate was all about how to deal with existing pensioners, but in the past few years we have begun to think about what we can do for tomorrow’s pensioners. Although it would probably not be true to say that the question of pensions is on everyone’s lips, the subject used to be a matter for older people only. Now, younger people are talking about the provision that they will have to make for their later years. They may not yet understand what they will have to do, or be ready to make the necessary contribution to ensure an income in later life, but they are starting to consider their pension provision. I hope that the introduction of the national pension saving scheme and the personal account will give younger people an incentive, for the first time, to put money aside for later in their lives.