A Future Fair For All
The Labour party fought the last general election campaign under the slogan - A Future Fair For All.
But now that Labour is in opposition - the party has some difficult decisions to make - not least over public sector pensions.
Why?
Because Lord Hutton - Labour's very own Work and Pensions Secretary in the last government - has sounded the death knell for final salary pensions schemes.
And a good thing too - because as regular readers know - final salary pensions mean that the low paid end up subsidising the higher paid.
But Lord Hutton - in an independent report - is recommending that these arrangements are brought to an end - and replaced by career average schemes.
A career average scheme will mean that everyone is treated fairly - no one is more equal than anyone else - everyone gets out broadly what they contribute over the years.
But as usual the trade unions will make a terrible fuss - which is really all about defending the interests of the better paid - not improving the lot of the low paid.
So it will be interesting to see if Labour stands up for its principles - and A Future Fair For All - or caves in to trade union interests.
But now that Labour is in opposition - the party has some difficult decisions to make - not least over public sector pensions.
Why?
Because Lord Hutton - Labour's very own Work and Pensions Secretary in the last government - has sounded the death knell for final salary pensions schemes.
And a good thing too - because as regular readers know - final salary pensions mean that the low paid end up subsidising the higher paid.
But Lord Hutton - in an independent report - is recommending that these arrangements are brought to an end - and replaced by career average schemes.
A career average scheme will mean that everyone is treated fairly - no one is more equal than anyone else - everyone gets out broadly what they contribute over the years.
But as usual the trade unions will make a terrible fuss - which is really all about defending the interests of the better paid - not improving the lot of the low paid.
So it will be interesting to see if Labour stands up for its principles - and A Future Fair For All - or caves in to trade union interests.
