Wednesday 12th December 2007
Campaigners are calling on the government to help the 125,000 Britons left without a pension due to the winding up of schemes to have a merry Christmas.
Secretary of state for work and pensions Peter Hain, along with minister of state for pension reforms Mike OBrien, believe that such assistance should be given, according to pensions adviser Dr Ros Altmann.
"Peter Hain and Mike OBrien are apparently battling to persuade their colleagues to allow them to put an end to the worst pension scandal this country has ever seen," she observes.
"The official Department for Work and Pensions review has shown that a proper rescue is affordable and Hain wants to announce it this week, before Christmas, but it seems Numbers 10 and 11 are standing in the way."
Dr Altmann adds that many of the victims are elderly or unwell and had relied on workplace pension schemes to provide the funds needed to maintain their standard of living into retirement.
And she notes that Mr Hain has told constituents that compensation could be given to those hit by the winding up of such schemes with little or no cost passed on to UK taxpayers.
The news comes following the governments announcement of its proposed pensions bill - which has been termed a "curates egg" by independent financial adviser Donna Bradshaw.
Ms Bradshaw, financial planning strategist at IFG Financial Services, argues that "most people do not have the money to save" and as such could be worse off if they were forced to contribute to a workplace pension compulsorily.
"If you had a universal pension where everyone got the same amount - and everything they saved on top of that was theirs - it would be a lot more attractive," she concludes.
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