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Pensions Bill

The Young review has made it clear that neither the national insurance fund nor national savings are credible options. It makes it clear that defined benefit pensions and orphan assets will not provide the new source of funding that is needed. The Opposition should accept that their lifeboat amendment has been holed below the waterline: it is sinking fast and the time has come for them to abandon it. Our charge that the Opposition are guilty of fiscal irresponsibility is plain to everyone. Additionally, the Opposition proposal adds complexity as pensioners could receive income from three different agencies—their pension scheme, the FAS, and the lifeboat top-up. That would make for a mangled bureaucratic nightmare, caused by the Opposition. They complained about the FAS, but now it seems that they want to duplicate it. The real question is whether the Government will do more for people, and what we have said today shows that we are prepared to look at ways of moving forward. In contrast, the Conservatives have merely brought forward uncosted proposals.