The new work and pensions secretary has said that compulsory savings are not "off limits".

David Blunkett used his first major interview since his rapid return to the Cabinet to say he was not ruling anything out in Labour's third term.

Ministers are awaiting Adair Turner's landmark report on the future of UK pensions provision, due later this year, before finalising policies which were not in their election manifesto.

However moves towards compulsory pensions savings were thought to have been ruled out for now by chancellor Gordon Brown's former chief adviser Ed Balls.

He said that any such decisions would require an electoral mandate and would be for a fourth term in power.

But Blunkett appeared to immediately put himself at odds with the Treasury by saying all options, including compulsion, retirement age and tax, would be considered.

"There are no off-limits here. We have got to be able to address quickly and decisively where we are going," he told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost.

"I want to build a consensus so I want, with Adair Turner, to be able to reach out to the other major political parties because we need a lasting solution for the decades ahead not a quick fix."

Crisis

Outlining the "enormity" of the pensions crisis, Blunkett said Britain could no longer afford to bury its head in the sand."

Fifty years ago we had a situation where people on the whole lived 10 years after retirement. and retirement was, on average, at the age of 67," he said.

"Now we have a situation where people live on average 20 years longer. They want to retire earlier. The average age of retirement is below 65.

"But the number of people of working age sustaining those in retirement has dramatically fallen.

"A hundred years ago when we started today's pensions scheme there were actually 10 people in work for every one in retirement.

"In the middle of this century there will be two people in work for every one in retirement. When you grasp those facts you see that this is not a solution for government, it is a solution for all of us."

Contribution

The former home secretary also suggested that immigration and reducing worklessness could help pay for pensions.

He pointed to Scotland's 'fresh talent' scheme as an example of migrants contributing to the economy.

"You can bring people in through legal migration for a period of time to fill particular vacancies and to help fund the services of the future including those in retirement," he said.

And he said it was "crucial" that the government's incapacity benefit bill was reduced, with a target of 80 per cent of the population in work achieved.