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CPI/RPI Pensions Uprating

I have always believed that this is principally a matter of trust between employees and employers, be they private employers or the Government, and so I agree with my hon. Friend. I have represented poorly paid working people all my life, and my sympathy lies with those who come to my surgery to tell me, ““I've worked hard all my life and saved what I could, but now I am retired I wonder why I bothered because I am no better off than those who didn't work and saved nothing.”” I rarely agree with that argument, because the truth is that they are nearly always better off than they think they are as a result of their prudence, and their neighbours who live on benefits are usually worse off than they are perceived to be, although I must say that sometimes it is very close to the margin. The Government's decision to cut pensions arbitrarily by linking them to the inferior CPI encourages that prejudice, and it will persuade poorly paid people to save their money in a different and less sensible way.