Pensions Reform

I congratulate the Secretary of State on trying to make a silk purse out of a pig’s ear. I draw his attention to the extraordinary support for that part of his statement in which he announced that those on the Government side of the House want to give much greater justice to women working than they have hitherto received. However, can he help me with one problem that I have, given that he has rejected an investment-led and accepted a tax-financed approach? Four years ago, the then Secretary of State sent us back to our constituencies to sell to our constituents the idea that the state second pension would not only eradicate poverty as we knew it, but would last their lifetime. Today this Secretary of State has, in effect, announced the winding up of the state second pension as we know it. Why will these tax-financed reforms last for even four years?