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Postal Services Bill [HL]

I rise to support my noble friend. What we are on about here is the members and trying to protect them, because, as he said, while the two Governments were taking a holiday, the members were making their contributions to the scheme in any case. There has been talk of suspicion, fog, mist and a lack of clarity. I hope that when the Minister replies he will try to meet our misgivings; indeed, that he will end them and give us assurances that we have no need to fear what might happen. That will be a big test, because as my noble friend Lord Clarke has said, the members of the scheme are extremely suspicious of what might happen to the scheme and, indeed, what might happen to them. They have paid into a pension fund for such a long time and they want to ensure that it is protected. It is part of their security for the future and was part of wages they deferred in the past in going forward. Therefore, I hope that my noble friend Lord McKenzie can give us some reassurances, or at least some details that we can look at to see whether we have the kind of reassurances that we actually need.