DAVID WILLETTS, shadow trade and industry secretary, last night called on the government to "socialise" part of the pensions burden for business or risk the prospect of zombie companies struggling to meet payments to former workers, says the Guardian.
In what he stressed was a personal contribution to the debate, he proposed Britain should follow the example of Japan and allow companies to pay the government to take over responsibility for at least £50bn of their accumulated pension obligations, says the paper. The State would accept an up-front payment from firms which wanted to rid themselves of the need to pay the contracted-out guaranteed minimum pension - the corporate version of the state second pension - which would come from government coffers. With the report on individual pensions from Adair Turner out next month, Willetts sa...
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