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Parliamentary Pensions

I very much hope that my hon. Friend will not be retiring for some considerable time. I also hope that he will not have to retire for reasons of ill health; he seems to be a gentleman of exceedingly good health. He has made the important point that many of our constituents look at our parliamentary contributory pension scheme while having concerns about their own pension arrangements. That is why the Government have been keen to ensure that these proposals, in their unity, will not cost the taxpayer a single penny more, and that the package that we are introducing today will be cost-neutral. That point could not be more tellingly made than in the present global economic circumstances, but it also behoves us to look carefully at the way in which we look after ourselves. That is why it is right that there should be a tightening of the provisions for retirement through ill health, as the trustees have proposed.