Stephen Lowe: What is the point of new law that changes nothing?

The removal of a House of Lords amendment to the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill has come under fire not so much for the decision to take it out as for the impotence of the replacement clause. What is the point of new law that will not change anything? Poor take-up of free and impartial pension guidance - a key consumer protection measure in the era of ‘freedom and choice' - was one of the reasons the government decided to roll three separate consumer support organisations into one. The government had signalled its support for "a stronger nudge" towards guidance and, in committee, ...