The great pension debate
Everybody agrees that Britain’s pension arrangements need to be made a lot better. But successful reform will not be easy for Labour
FEW issues carry so much political risk for so little political reward as pension reform. In the short run, any change is likely to be regarded as a threat by existing pensioners. The benefits are unlikely to be seen, or acknowledged, for decades. Britain's new Labour government is well aware of this, having used sensible proposals for a funded basic state pension by the then Conservative government as an excuse to scare elderly voters about a “Tory pension threat” during the recent general election. So the government's announcement on July 17th of a fundamental review of pension provision was certainly brave.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The great pension debate”
From the July 19th 1997 edition
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