Clause 62
Pensions Bill
5:30 pm
Andrew Selous (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
We all understand the point about the sharia funds and the religious obligation and feelings of those potential investors. However, we live in a diverse society. Many clergymen and ministers, for example, may also feel strongly that the dictates of their Christian faith would cause them serious problems with being auto-enrolled into a scheme not compliant with the UN principles, or not having the option to do that.
The Minister is flagging up that there is likely to be a sharia scheme, but he cannot go any further in committing on any other scheme. I am a little uneasy, because that seems to acknowledge the genuine and legitimate needs of one section of constituents, but perhaps to ignore the needs of a considerable amount of others.