As Gordon Brown basks in the glow of a bright honey-coloured moon, no doubt occasionally reflecting on the very generous pension which will one day come his way, I wonder whether he compares his own good fortune with that of the many pensioners who have fallen victim to his ineptitude.
The ex-Chancellor’s pension’s stealth tax has helped to destroy one of the world’s best pension systems.
Over £100 billion has been wiped off the value of pension funds, over 60,000 occupational pension schemes are in the process of, or have been, wound up since the Labour Government took office in 1997 and only a third of final salary pension schemes are still open to new members.
But we have to be fair. He did set up the Financial Assistance Scheme, which so far has cost more than £8.8 million to administer whilst paying out just £3.3million to disaffected pensioners. What a Chancellor. What an Administrator.
However the real gall of the man lies in the fact that he was told of the likely outcome at the time but clearly thought he knew better.
Such arrogance and poor judgement bode ill now that he has steered himself into the top job. Yet he suggests that it somehow wasn’t his fault but that of his predecessor and that he will embark on a spin free Labour restart to save us from such pitfalls in the future.
Doesn’t add up does it. But that’s what we have come to expect from a Chancellor come Prime Minister with a record of failure in so many areas.
Brian Binley MP
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