David Cameron is falling into the same trap as Gordon Brown. He’s worried about votes and is threatening to change pensions because of it.
The laudable ideas from Cameron’s work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith and his able pensions man Steve Webb are in danger of coming to nothing, having travelled so far.
It’s not the first time pensions has become political- Gordon Brown was renowned for this- but at this stage in a new process, it is particularly disappointing. The idea of a flat rate State pension looks like it may be kicked into the long grass and not considered further before the next election.
I suspect that the real motivator here is George Osborne, the Chancellor, and he is ‘using’ the Prime Minister to push home his points. I know the newspaper reports say otherwise, but the reform can be shown to be costly financially and not just costly in terms of the voters who may lose out. Why is Cameron bowing to the views of his Chancellor? Maybe it is the votes. More likely it’s the cost of the changes that the Opposition can latch on to before the election- so votes again, albeit one step removed.
Shame on you Mr Cameron. You could have saved the future of pensions in the UK, simplified the system and added a long term confidence in the system that is currently lacking. Instead, you have bowed to the ballot box.
