Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 9th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

Pension saving has been undermined by the new lifetime ISA, a new gimmick from the Chancellor, which will promote ISA saving from taxed income over pension saving from pre-tax income—in other words, it is a convenient tool to increase tax receipts today. No employee will be better off saving into an ISA than through workplace pension saving. The Association of British Insurers has forecast that someone saving 4% of an income of £25,000 in an ISA would be £53,000 worse off by age 60. Will the Minister tell the Chancellor to stop his gimmicks, stop this nonsense and get back to pension savings? We need no more con tricks from this Government.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The eloquence might be worthy of Demosthenes, but I think the length would not. Questions must be shorter.

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[Priti Patel]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He will be aware, as will all Members, of the ongoing economic turmoil in the eurozone and the double-digit unemployment, which is really where the European Union is right now. The employment challenges that they face serve as a warning to us. I am delighted to say that the UK is a bright spot when it comes to employment, which is thanks to the long-term economic plan of this Government.

[Mr Speaker]

That was a very well informed answer, I am bound to say.

[Victoria Atkins (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that one way in which Members can help young people to find work is by hosting jobs and apprenticeships fairs? Does she look forward to the first-ever jobs and apprenticeships fairs in my Louth and Horncastle constituency on 2 September?

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[Kate Hollern]

Recently, the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise talked about how

“people have been working…for up to 30 years and paying into a pension fund in the expectation that…they will have a certain amount of money on which to live”.

She went on to say that

“there is an increasingly good case to be made for the right thing to be done by people”.—[Official Report, 25 April 2016; Vol. 608, c. 1183.]

Given the sudden change in the retirement age for women, how can the Government justify this rank hypocrisy from one Minister to another? Will the Secretary of State bring fairness for those women? In his new role, he has an opportunity to show that he will consider things fairly and support the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise.

[Mr Speaker]

From the context of her question, I think that the hon. Lady was levelling the charge of inconsistency as between one Minister and another. I know she would not accuse a Minister of behaving hypocritically to another.

[Mr Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) (Lab)]

She was talking about the Government.

[Mr Speaker]

Well, if the reference were to the Government as a collective, that would be another way—

[Mr Skinner]

Exactly.

[Mr Speaker]

That would render it orderly. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr Skinner) for proffering advice, especially from a sedentary position.

[Mr Vara]

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will take the hon. Lady’s reference, “from one Minister to another” slightly broadly and remind her that, following the passing of the Pensions Act in 1995 there were 13 years of Labour government during which a succession of Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and pensions Ministers did absolutely nothing to try to alter the system that she and her colleagues now seek to change.

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[Mr Speaker]

Order. I do not want to keep our VIPs waiting too long—and they are our VIPs today—but there are a couple more Members whom I wish to accommodate.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The latest analysis shows that the young people referred to in Question 3 stand to lose between £30,000 and £20,000 over their retirement, as a direct result of Government policy. Will the Minister explain how that contributes to intergenerational fairness?