Charles Kennedy

Liberal Democrats | Ross Skye & Lochaber

Kennedy: Urgency Needed To Sort Out Pensions Mess

Charles Kennedy, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, today asked Tony Blair at Prime Minister’s Questions whether he agreed “with Adair Turner when he describes the Government's current pensions systems as being a ‘complete muddle’, and that the current reliance on means-testing is simply ‘not sustainable’.” Mr Kennedy added that Mr Turner’s remarks demonstrated “the need for genuine urgency to sort this mess out.”

Mr Kennedy also asked the Prime Minister if he acknowledged that before trying to establish an all party consensus on long term pension reform, “that there needs to be consensus within the Government especially over the issue of means-testing.”

Full text of PMQ exchange follows.

Charles Kennedy: Mr Speaker, does the Prime Minister agree with Adair Turner when he describes the Government's current pensions systems as being a "complete muddle", [interference] and that the current reliance on means-testing is simply "not sustainable". Now doesn’t this, coming from him, demonstrate the need for genuine urgency to sort this mess out?

Prime Minister: No it isn’t actually what he said in his interim report, but of course the very reason he set up this commission was to deal with the long term issue in respect of pensions. It’s important we do it. But when he refers to means-tested benefits, if he means the pensioner credit, let me just point out to the Right Honourable Gentleman – that round about two million pensioners have been lifted out of acute hardship. They couldn’t have been lifted out that poverty but for the pensioner credit.

Mr Kennedy: If the Government are, as I believe that they are, serious about trying to establish an all party consensus on long term pension reform surely he will acknowledge that there needs to be consensus within the Government first over the issue of means-testing? The Chancellor implied last weekend that pension reform is something that could be postponed into the life of the next parliament. Is the Prime Minister intending to have a pensions consensus established whilst he is still in tenure as Prime Minister?

Prime Minister: We will do our best to establish a consensus but that must be on the basis of taking difficult decisions, not something that the Liberal Democrats are famed for; in order to make sure that whatever system we introduce we’re certain it can actually be paid for. The reason why over the past few years we have tried to put more money towards the poorest pensioners is that when we came to office it was a real problem, many pensioners literally facing a choice each winter between the money they needed to heat their flat or their home, and the money they needed to eat.  Now a lot of that, not all of it, a lot of that has been mitigated by the pensioner credit. So of course there are long term questions that have to be looked at very, very carefully indeed, but I’m actually proud of the record that this Government has on pensions, and proud particularly that we focused first of all on those who are the poorest in our society.