Pensions Reform

I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend—[Laughter.] I thank him for welcoming those parts of the White Paper that he agrees with—but I have to make something clear to him, and to others, in relation to the state second pension. We had always signalled our intention that over the long term, we would move to a flat rating by 2050. Lord Turner, having considered those issues, has concluded that we should be looking to do that on a faster time track. I simply say to my right hon. Friend that he needs to consider the two reforms together—the restoration of the earnings link for the basic state pension and the changes we are making to the state second pension. Overall, this is a beneficial sequence of changes that will benefit pensioners in their retirement. I set out the figures on that in my statement.