---

Pensions Bill

We will table our amendments this evening, so the hon. Gentleman will know of our proposals as early as tomorrow. [Interruption.] Yes, as my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) says, ““If you show us yours, we’ll show you ours.”” There should be recognition of the contribution that women have made to this country, particularly in the areas of unpaid work and caring for children and for the sick, the disabled and the elderly. We welcome the attempt that is being made in the Bill to right a wrong by enabling carers—men and women—who care for 20 hours or more a week to have their contribution counted towards pension credits. However, people who require care do not necessarily conform to neat categories of need. We can all recognise the picture of the severely disabled person who needs lots of care and attention; they are easy to identify. But we should also think about situations in which someone cares for a loved one who needs a lot of attention but does not qualify for the higher rate of disability living allowance. The hon. Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) gave some good examples in that regard. Why should the level of disability dictate the allowances for the carer, who has to put in the hours of care regardless of what disability allowance the person that they care for is receiving? Those who care for people with intermittent needs will also be left out of this entitlement. A mother might have an adult child who has mental illness. That child might be okay for periods, but when the illness hits lots of time will be needed to care for them. Will that mother be able to get a full-time, well-paid job, knowing that they might have to break off at any time? We will be able to include many more people who deserve to receive carer’s pension credits if we build a little more flexibility into the Bill. We will table amendments to that effect. Finally, I want to speak about the plight of pensioners today. Tomorrow’s pensioners will be helped if the Bill is enacted but, to be frank, 3 million of them will be dead by 2012, having had no improvements in their harsh circumstances. Further, by 2012 the value of the basic state pension will have fallen to just 13 per cent. of average earnings—yes, just 13 per cent. That cannot be allowed to happen. The National Pensioners Convention and many other groups have called for the immediate restoration of the earnings link. The cost of that has been estimated at £600 million per annum. That is a lot of money, but it pales into insignificance compared with the billions of pounds that the Government have thrown away on computer systems that do not work and an illegal war in Iraq, and with what they propose to spend on identity cards. The Government have pledged to eradicate child poverty by 2020. That is a laudable aim, but under these proposals by then one in five of all pensioners will be in poverty—and, we can be sure, even more women than at present will be swelling the ranks of the poor. The Government can do something about that now. Planning for tomorrow is essential, but relieving the inequality and injustice of today is also essential if we are to be able to call ourselves a caring and civilised nation.