Clause 5
Pensions Bill
3:00 pm
David Laws (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Work & Pensions; Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)
I shall not make a partisan response to the hon. Gentleman’s latest comment. Does he accept that there was a bit more to it than financial constraints when the link was broken under a Conservative Government getting on for a decade later? The link was broken not only because of the affordability issue, but because the Conservative Government’s philosophy did not favour an earnings-linked basic state pension. At that time, there was a rather different approach, including by some of the other parties that are represented here today.