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Postal Services Bill [HL]

I support my noble friend, perhaps for a reason that he has not mentioned. It seems to me that this would be a very good provision in relation to people who have what we might call a chequered work pattern. That may very well apply in the case of many women who take time out of work to undertake caring and other family responsibilities. It is true that when we discussed the state pension some time ago, as my noble friend Lord McKenzie will recall, we introduced a rather similar amendment as far as women and the state pension was concerned. There was great support for the amendment, which was to enable women to pay extra to purchase pensions for the period when they had not been in the workforce. This would have the same effect. Therefore, for the reasons indicated by my noble friend and for the situations in regard to people who will have a chequered work pattern and will not have a continuous working life, the amendment would enable people to purchase extra years, so to speak, and to build up their pension so that it was an adequate amount when they came to take retirement. For those reasons, I support the amendment.