Steve Webb: I just don't buy that annuities are good value

His comments follow an interview with the Telegraph where he mooted the idea of making it possible for consumers to switch annuity providers after initial purchase, in a similar way to the mortgage market. Speaking on Radio 5 live the minister said he was "trying to poke the annuity market with a big sharp stick". In an on-air debate with Webb, Hargreaves Lansdown head of pensions research Tom McPhail argued it was possible for consumers to get a good deal if they used shopping around mechanisms already in place but Webb argued government intervention was necessary. McPhail said: "...