British Steel: Was Port Talbot the tipping point for pension freedoms?

DB schemes' reputation 'taken a hammering'

clock • 3 min read

As the initial euphoria of 'never having to buy an annuity again' wears off, the prospect of pension freedom becomes less appealing, writes Henry Tapper

Whether ‘sausage and chips' or ‘chicken in the basket', the ‘factory gating' that has gone on in South Wales has thrown up new icons for pension freedoms, replacing the Lamborghini with a rather greasier reality. Work and pensions committee chairman Frank Field concluded his questioning of British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) trustee chairman Allan Johnson with the remark "you're in different worlds." Certainly, it seemed that way as I watched first BSPS management and then the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) explaining what had gone wrong to an incredulous group of MPs. Nearly 7,...

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