Clause 5
Pensions Bill
1:30 pm
Nigel Waterson (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; Eastbourne, Conservative)
I was in the process of talking about ageing rock stars, the benefits of retiring to Florida rather than Vancouver and how one might deal with the costs of a prime ministerial holiday in one’s mansion. We have already had a lengthy debate this morning, which has been helpful and important, about frozen pensions and how those are to be addressed.I was saying that we Opposition Members have considerable sympathy with the concerns expressed to us, as well as to the Government and other parties. This matter will be fed into our general policy review.
The cost of £400 million, to which I want to return in more detail in a moment, could be spent on this or another deserving cause, because—except in the twilight zone occupied by the Liberal Democrats—the rest of us have to make the demands on the public purse fit the financial envelope, as it is tweely called.