Pensions Reform

As the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr. Brown) said, the word ““consensus”” has floated around the Chamber today. However, the Government’s view appears to be, ““There will be consensus about our proposals or nothing.”” That is the wrong place to start because there are differing views about the future of pensions. We in the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru believe that the Government have flunked a golden opportunity to tackle the perceived problems of the state pension system. Although we talk about consensus, the right hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) was correct to say that there had to be consensus outwith the House. The consensus there, certainly among the people to whom I speak, emerged around the idea of a citizens pension, although views vary about the form that it should take. As has been said, the White Paper does nothing for current pensioners. Earlier, the Minister for Pensions Reform argued that the proposals are about the future, not the present. The hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Miss Begg) also referred to that. I take that on board to some extent but, unless we tackle the genuine concerns of today’s pensioners, we are unlikely to achieve consensus. As the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) said when he spoke about the problems with occupational pensions, the genuine grievances of some people and the fact that we continue to hear stories about the matter means that we will never get past that issue. The same applies to the state pension. If today’s pensioners feel strongly that their problems are not being taken on board, the same process will happen. Indeed, the National Pensioners Convention has already made the point that the White Paper does nothing for today’s pensioners and I understand that it will publish an alternative White Paper next week. As I said, we greatly support a citizens pension, which we were the first to advocate, although others subsequently took up the idea. I suspect that we may be the last ones standing who continue to talk about it, given that the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) did not mention it. When the Turner report was published, initial reaction was that it advocated moves towards a citizens pension. However, on closer reading, it became clear that it did not take us very far down that road. Turner’s gradual approach meant that many years would pass before most people received a citizens pension. Inadequate though those proposals are, the Government’s proposals do not even go that far. As I said in an intervention on the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South, the White Paper contains proposals that we greatly support and I shall enumerate some later if I have time. However, I want to consider the point that has been made repeatedly about the restoration of the link between pensions and earnings in 2012. That has been the spin on the White Paper since its publication, but I ask hon. Members to read its contents carefully. The executive summary on page 17 states:"““During the next Parliament, we will re-link the uprating of the basic State Pension to average earnings. Our objective, subject to affordability and the fiscal position, is to do this in 2012, but in any event by the end of the Parliament at the latest. We will make a statement on the precise date at the beginning of the next Parliament.””" That could have been framed on Sir Humphrey Appleby’s office wall. It is not even jam tomorrow, but a statement that, if we have a good raspberry harvest and sugar remains at a low price, we might perhaps just find it possible to have some jam, but we will not say when. Hon. Members should note that the date on which the Government will make an announcement is nicely past the next general election. That does not give much succour to pensioners. Even if the Government implement that statement—I shall not dignify it by calling it a promise—it could be as late as 2015, not 2012. That is presuming that they win the next general election—they will not in Scotland but I cannot speak for England. Even if the Government were to re-establish the link, it would do nothing to address the fact that pensions have fallen behind earnings since the Tories broke the link or to make up for the past 25 years, which is why a true citizens pensions is the correct way to deal with the matter.