Pensions Reform

If that is the case, the SNP should have tabled an amendment adding their proposals to the end of the motion, as did the Liberal Democrats, because that would enable them to retain the positive aspect of the motion. In fact, their amendment removes it. In general, the White Paper is a follow-up to the Turner commission proposals. I like what the White Paper says about women and carers—it is not the universal entitlement that I wanted, but I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister for Pensions Reform will explain in his winding-up speech that the proposals on women and carers put money in their hands much more quickly than a citizens pension or universal entitlement based on residence. However, the Government should explain more thoroughly why a residence qualification is not a simple option and why it is much more complicated than many of its supporters believe. That fact is sometimes missing from the debate, as people are still thirled to the idea that residence is easy to determine. I have changed my view, as I said, about the state retirement age, not because things are any better for people who live in Glasgow, but because the White Paper proposes a phased introduction in future. The proposal will not affect anyone who is over 47 today, but the Government must make sure that the pensions system is flexible enough to allow people to change jobs. People rarely want to retire completely after 30 years in a job—often, they are tired of that particular job or the treadmill of work. Having spoken to many people who have accepted an early retirement package, they gained a second wind when they started a new job. The financial security of their pension settlement allowed them to go off and do something that they always wanted to do. Often, they started jobs in which they gave a great deal back to society and, as a result, they benefited a great deal themselves. When I was a teacher, some of my colleagues complained that they could not work beyond 60. That may well be true of secondary school teaching, given the rough and tumble that the job entails, but it is not a case of people’s working lives being over. It is crucial that the pensions system allows individuals who have had enough of one job to move on to another one without jeopardising their pension entitlement. What convinced me of the worth of the national pension savings scheme was a visit to Sweden by the Work and Pensions Committee to see how such a scheme operates there. I appeal to the Government, however, not to establish as many funds as have been established in Sweden, because choice has led to inertia, and most people opt for the default scheme to avoid confusion. I accept that the issue still requires a great deal of discussion. We must achieve consensus among hon. Members, but my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead was right that it is the people outside who are important, so we must consider what they think is fair and justifiable in future pension provision. Some people have great ideas about the shape of the pensions system, and we have heard about one of those ideas from my right hon. Friend. Some say that if we set out from a different starting point—that is the SNP’s position—we could design a much simpler, more coherent system, and I am sure that we could. Some want to pick and choose different parts of the package to avoid difficult decisions. They want to pick the good bits that will improve pension provision while avoiding measures that have to be put in place to pay for it. People have different ideas, but there is one problem common to all of them—not one of them has achieved the consensus built by the White Paper and the Turner proposals, and not one of them can do so. The Turner commission was successful, because it did not give everything to everyone. My hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, North (Mr. Rooney) talked about vested interests. Trade unions, employers and pensioner groups did not get exactly what they wanted from Turner, but they did get something. Similarly, everyone, both inside and outside the House, can buy into something in the White Paper, which makes it possible to build consensus. No matter how brilliant a proposal, it simply will not stand the test of time without consensus. To carry out the proposals in the White Paper will be a serious test of political will for everyone. We must not fail, because if we do, future generations of pensioners will not receive what they are entitled to. They are depending on us.