Money
Pensions
Just do it, Gordon, say pension campaigners
Ten brave men and one brave woman lined up and bared themselves on Bournemouth beach at the now-traditional protest of the Pensions Action Group at the Labour Party Conference, writes Julian Champkin
The woman - her modesty preserved by a strategically-placed placard - was Val Day, whose husband Roger was one of those stripped of their pensions at shelving firm Dexion. "I'd like to know how Gordon Brown would feel if his wife had to take her clothes off to get the pension he needs to live on," she said.
Why did Val join the demonstration for justice? "Because losing your pension dominates every day of your lives. My husband is ill because of it, and unemployed; I pay the bills by working, but I have diabetes and high blood pressure and I am 62. You get up each morning wondering 'How much longer can I go on?' You go to bed each evening thinking 'Will we have to sell the house?' And we are better off than many here: I have seen utter despair."
"In his speech to the conference on Monday, Gordon Brown said 'It is all about people.' Well we are people; so why is he tormenting us? There is no other word for what he is doing."
Some have died without receiving their due pensions. Katherine Blake raised three children alone, without the pension her husband had earned for her at steelworks ASW; she has formed a widows group: "They call us Widows of Steel." One of those widows is Marleen Cheshire: "My husband became ill with prostate cancer. It was diagnosed too late - they put it down to the stress of losing his pension. On his deathbed I lied to him: I told him they had agreed to pay our pension. What sort of morality has a government that makes a wife of 41 years lie to her husband so that he can die in peace?"
"I am here to protest because I want justice," said Dave Barker, of instrument makers Sifan, who should retire in 12 months but whose pension will be significantly less than he expected. "How does the government expect the younger generation to save for pensions if this is what happens to those of us who did?"
The 150-odd who came to Bournemouth to demonstrate were unanimous in blaming Gordon Brown for failing to nip the scandal in the bud - he was Chancellor when it broke - and for doing nothing for the five long years of their campaign. "Gordon Brown Let Us Down" and "Gordon Brown, Come On Down" were some of the chants outside the conference centre. He stayed inside and did not put in an appearance.
His failure to honour government pledges that pensions were safe contrasted starkly with his immediate bail-out of Northern Rock investors: "He has pledged ten billion pounds of taxpayers money to Northern Rock investors, who didn't have to invest in Northern Rock, and were putting their spare money where they could get good interest rates; but he says it wouldn't be right to pledge a chicken-feed sum in comparison to guarantee pensions that the government forced us to take out and promised us would be safe," said Andrew Parr, still having to do hard physical work, despite ill-health, past the age he should have retired.
"He guaranteed taxpayers' money for Northern Rock to preserve confidence in the banking system; why can't he guarantee a far smaller sum to these pensioners to preserve confidence in the pensions system?" said Conservative spokesman for Work and Pensions Chris Grayling, who chaired a fringe meeting attended by the protesters.
"We are fed up with delay," said Dr Ros Altmann, pensions expert and guiding light of the campaign. "The Prime Minister must fix his moral compass and immediately promise all the victims at least the same as they would have received from the Pension Protection Fund.
"He should underwrite this now, rather than waiting for any more to die or become seriously ill while waiting for justice. The Government Review can find the funding - just do it."
