Saga Magazine Editor Emma Soames presents the 'Petition for Pensions Justice' to Pensions Minister, James Purnell Pensions campaign
Budget: help for pensions theft victims
Pensions Action Group: an update
Lobby your MP
Government loses pensions case
The background
Pensions news and advice
Dr Ros Altmann: What you should ask your pension provider
Pensions: Britain versus the EU
State pensions: Paul Lewis on the new rules
UK pension plans: How to qualify
Automatic pension enrolment and more
Saga Personal Finance: Plan your retirement with Saga
Meet like-minded people at Saga Zone
|
|
Support grows for pensions campaigners
Hope is a rare commodity for the 125,000 suffering workers who have lost their company pensions – in most cases their life savings. But this week they can dare to hope that their four year long fight for Government compensation is at least gaining momentum, writes Saga Magazine Editor Emma Soames
Could this be the beginning of the end? Or just the end of the beginning – to quote the illustrious Englishman who looked down benignly on some 250 demonstrators for the Pensions Action Group demonstrating outside the Houses of Parliament, where they were joined by some 60 sympathetic MPs of all parties.
While support for these innocent victims grows in the House of Commons, this week at a judicial review in the High Court four members of PAG are challenging the Government’s refusal of compensation payments, on the grounds that the schemes were not provided by the state.
However, the Parliamentary Ombudsman found the Government guilty of maladministration and ordered it to pay full compensation. This case challenges the Government’s refusal to accept the Ombudsman’s ruling.
John Halford of the claimants’ solicitors, Bindman and Partners, said: “This case raises a fundamental constitutional issue. But behind that are thousands of people who continue to suffer extreme financial hardship because they invested in pensions they were told by this very department were safe. That this case has to be brought at all is an absolute scandal.”
From Parliament Square a delegation of constituents went to meet Conservative party leader David Cameron, who surely could make political capital of the Government’s cynical handling of this case.
The Tories so far have contented themselves with attacking the dismal failure of the financial assistance scheme. It has run up costs of £7m but only paid out £3m to victims, while taking more than six months for claims to be fulfilled. So far only 871 victims from a possible 125,000 have received any assistance from the scheme. And when they do it is pitiful amounts of money. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Phillip Hammond said: “This is simply not acceptable and is further proof that the Government are not taking the plight of these people seriously.”
Later that day another delegation, including myself, presented the 'Saga Petition for Justice for the 125,000' to Pensions Minister, James Purnell. I explained that the 12,237 signatures in the box represented the anger and disappointment of thousands of Saga readers at the Government’s failure to act.
I challenged his department to change its position, but Mr Purnell remained non-committal. But nothing can hold back the green shoots of hope and Purnell’s department may yet be obliged to change their position.
This article was created: 8 February 2007.
This article was last edited: 21 March 2007.
 Email  Back to top
|
