Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:58 pm on 17 November 2025.
Baroness Kramer
Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
2:58,
17 November 2025
My Lords, does the Minister agree that in real life, many people restricted their lifestyles, spending and gifting in order to build a sufficient defined contribution pension that could pay, if needed, for years in a care home—not knowing how long they would live or their health condition—and because they did not want to burden the state or their children? They now see that they were being gullible in believing the assurances that anything unused could go to their loved ones free of inheritance tax, and that the Government simply regard their sense of responsibility as rather stupid. What would the Minister say to those people?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
