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Pensions Bill

If the hon. Gentleman is seeking a change in the date, he is right to say that I have not announced anything specific or new. What I have done, in responding to the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central, is set the key nature of the restoration of the link in the context of our overall package of proposals. It is essential to our policy delivery, and to the action that we wish to take to help older people. It is not an optional extra; it is not something that we might do if the circumstances were just right. It is something that we must do. If we do not do it, the Bill, and many of the provisions in the 2007 Act, will not have the foundation that is necessary for them to deliver for older people.