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Pensions Bill

I am glad that my hon. Friend has put on record the fact that our party was the first to talk about the issue, and it is good that there is now more widespread agreement that it needs to be considered. It is also worth putting on the record the fact that we already receive representations from constituents with personal pensions, who were therefore probably higher up the income chain in their working lives to be able to save for them, who feel extremely aggrieved that, say, their neighbour or someone else they know is accessing benefits from which they are excluded because of that income. Now that we are going further down the chain of income, that problem will become much more acute and affect people with much more modest savings, incomes and pensions. We do not want to undermine the idea that everyone should save for a pension by arousing widespread resentment, so I welcome the greater interest that the Government are showing in the matter.