Alan Johnson, work and pensions secretary, has outlined six principles against which future reform of the pensions system will be benchmarked, which signal the government is prepared to go all the way and abolish future pension commitments, especially those of civil servants.
The priciples are: the pensions system must tackle poverty effectively; the opportunity to build an adequate retirement income for all; public pensions provision must remain sustainable; fair outcomes for women and carers; a better understood system; to go forward, where possible, in consensus. None of the principles commit the government to supporting state pensions in future, where they cannot be funded on a sustainable basis.. Civil servants went on strike for one day last week over the ongoing issue of how to fund future pensions commitments. Civil servant pensions are curr...
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