New clause 4 - Self-employed
State Pension Credit Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Professor Steve Webb (Northavon, Liberal Democrat)
I support a good deal of what the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison) said. It is important that the Conservatives have raised the issue of the self-employed, whose pension provision is often neglected. I shared his near-despair at the Minister's written answer in response to the Pension Provision Group that it was a useful contribution to the debate; that is the worst brush-off that one can imagine. That contribution does not seem to have informed policy since. The distinction between employed and self-employed is much less clear-cut—