The United Kingdom used to boast arguably the best non-state pension provision in the world. Not any more.

In just seven years of New Labour a deadly combination of corporate greed and government recklessness have created a pensions crisis which has ruined the retirement prospects of tens of thousands of workers and left millions more worse off.

Too many companies have come to see their employee pension fund as an asset of the business and not their staff.

The high cost of final salary schemes is persuading more and more employers to adopt money purchase pension plans which offer few guarantees of income levels in retirement.

The cumulative effects of the government’s misguided pension tax grab, lower interest rates and lower investment returns have eroded fund values and reduced pension payments.

People no longer have confidence that their pension entitlements will be fully delivered.

The government’s obsession with means tested benefits has undermined the savings ethic to such an extent that the savings ratio has halved since 1997. 

Reversing this trend is without doubt the single most important long term pensions policy objective.

John Greenway is Conservative MP for Ryedale.