Britain has voted to leave the EU The country decided to try something new We want to recapture control of our laws A clearly attractive and popular cause British voters were promised the future was bright With immigrant numbers reduced overnight 350 mill extra to keep us all healthier And new global trade deals to make us all wealthier Our Leaders insist we deserve special favours – We’re the mighty UK and EU’s nearest neighbours We seek a new partnership…
Well done to the PPF – more money for the pension scheme and many jobs reprieved PPF Toys’R’Us tactics have sent strong signal to other scheme sponsors to take pension promises more seriously It is good to see the Pension Protection Fund challenging corporate sponsors at Toys’R’Us and managing to get more money into the pension scheme. Its judgment that the company could indeed afford to pay, despite its protestations that this was impossible, has proven correct. This has sent…
Toys’R’Us pension woes highlight risks in employer pension promises Most private companies cannot shoulder open-ended multi-decade liabilities In coming years, more employers will look to offload their pension schemes – or be bankrupted by them Toys’R’Us is the latest casualty in the UK defined benefit pension crisis, highlighting yet again that private sector employer pension promises cannot always be relied upon. The Government recently concluded that most employers can afford their pension deficits, but I believe this is too complacent….
11 December 2017 Work and Pensions Select Committee presses Government for action to ban cold-calling House of Lords has paved the way for MPs to improve consumer protection Must not miss this chance to ban cold-calling and offer automatic free guidance before pensions transfers, to protect people’s pensions against scams or fraud The Work and Pensions Select Committee is calling on the Government to urgently improve protection for people’s pensions. This is absolutely right. Too many people are losing their…
10 December 2017 Social care crisis deepens as Four Seasons healthcare drowns in debt Debt burdens, rising staff costs, post-referendum nursing shortages and falling council payments have undermined Britain’s social care system Regulator has demanded Four Seasons agreement in 48 hours but crisis remains Hedge funds playing financial football while fate of elderly care home residents hangs on debt restructurings Four Seasons teetering on the brink as care crisis deepens: In 2016, the insolvency specialist Opus concluded ‘every part of…
4 December 2017 Rise in pensioner poverty deeply concerning Poorest pensioners falling behind because triple lock doesn’t protect Pension Credit More older women in poverty as they have lower state and private pensions than men Recent reductions in pensioner poverty are going into reverse: Figures released today by the Joseph Rowntree Trust point to a worrying rise in poverty among both children and pensioners. Pensioner poverty has reduced significantly in recent years, but this trend seems to have gone into…
23 October 2017 Government faces Lords defeat tomorrow over refusal to protect financial consumers Hard to understand why Ministers are resisting changes that have widespread support Policy needs action not words – let’s not miss this opportunity to introduce cold-calling ban Cross-party amendments to Financial Guidance and Claims Bill call for: Ban on cold-calling for pensions Mandatory guidance for pension savers before transferring money out Breathing space to protect people with huge debts (vital as interest rates set to rise)…
16 October 2017 Don’t punish the old to help the young – panic policy changes have political dangers Let’s focus on policies that are fairer across all age ranges Better to address problems of housing or student debt directly And take the opportunity to prepare for social care costs that will burden younger people Don’t repeat Manifesto errors: Today’s newspaper reports of potential Budget measures to please younger voters seem fraught with danger. The suggestion that older people should be…
28 September 2017 Mrs. May is right – capitalism boosts growth and economic progress but she fails to recognise central banks have distorted capital markets with dangerous political consequences Government bond markets are rigged in favour of the strong at expense of the weak as QE redistributes wealth away from the young and enriches the wealthiest groups Central Bank policies have operated as disguised fiscal policy without democratic accountability Socialism is not the answer – that would make everyone poorer…
27 September 2017 Three million pension scheme members have no more than 50/50 chance of getting their pensions ‘Superfunds’ could ease pension pressures before more employers become insolvent As Brexit economic and political uncertainty worsens, final salary pensions are more at risk No room for complacency as closed schemes will need better ways to manage liabilities: Britain’s Defined Benefit (DB) final-salary type pension schemes are under unprecedented pressure. So far, the Government has been rather complacent about the risks, but…