John Penrose

Conservative Party | Weston-super-Mare

Pensions reform

Danny Alexander: The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the need to have a stable and enduring consensus, rather than simply creating one now that then has the opportunity to fall apart after subsequent elections. Does he agree that one of the merits of some sort of independent commission, which he is discussing at the moment, is that it would also help to build public trust in the consensus because lack of public trust in the pensions system is one of the biggest problems that we face?

John Penrose: I agree that lack of public trust in the pensions system is one of the biggest problems thatwe face, and a degree of external comment by acknowledged experts might very well help build up trust. It is crucial to remember that if we believe that the proposals in the White Paper are worthwhile—there is a fair degree of unanimity on many aspects—valuable, and should stand the test of time, let us not sell them short. Let us instead build in stability, durability and mechanisms to ensure that they last, rather than simply trusting to hope.