---

Occupational Pensions

I am grateful, Mr. Speaker. The problem—and it is a problem not just for the right hon. Member for Charnwood but for all the Opposition Members who spoke in the debate—is that the logic of his speech is that he would reverse the changes to dividend tax credit. That is the one policy that we all waited to hear about today, but we did not hear it. It was conspicuous that in the speeches of Opposition Members—[Interruption.] There is no point in their trying to barrack me and make their speeches again, as they had an opportunity, which they completely fluffed. It is evident to everyone watching the debate that the Tories have no policy to address the problem that they have spent the past six and a half hours describing in detail to the House. Opposition Members have had plenty of time to make their position clear. We made those changes to the tax regime 10 years ago, and there have been two general elections in the intervening period. Just to remind them, we won those general elections because of the stewardship of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and because of the way in which we have governed the country. After two general elections and 10 years of waiting, there is still no hint of a Tory policy and no commitment to reverse the changes about which they have complained. This has been one of the worst performances by the Opposition that I have witnessed in my time in this House. According to Conservative Members—we heard this throughout their speeches—this Government supposedly inherited one of the best pension environments in the world in 1997, which explicitly underpinned most of what the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe said in his speech. The only problem with that argument is that the facts tell a different story. In 1997, nearly 3 million pensioners were living in poverty. Many women were denied the opportunity to secure a full basic state pension in their own right, and carers were similarly mistreated by the system. It was no golden age of private pension schemes, either. The mis-selling of private pensions, which was overseen by the previous Government, many of whose members are still here today, was a national disgrace. Millions of workers had no access to occupational pensions. That was no utopia. We need to be clear about one more thing, too. As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has said, the shift from defined benefit schemes towards defined contribution schemes is not a UK phenomenon brought about by changes to corporation tax. Far from it—as the Chancellor and many Labour Members have made clear, the effects of demographic change have impacted on pension schemes and systems right across the globe. My argument today is that this Government have acted properly and responsibly in meeting the challenges that our pension system has faced since 1997.