28 June 2006
The Government has called for cross-party consensus for its
pensions reform plans as they were debated in the House of
Commons.
The pensions White Paper was discussed in the House of Commons
yesterday. John Hutton, the Secretary of State for Work and
Pensions, pledged a "continuing debate" on the way ahead, but asked
opposition parties not to try to "cherry-pick" the plans. "There
isn't a pick and choose menu on offer so we do not have the luxury
of cherry-picking," said Mr Hutton.
Shadow Pensions Secretary Philip Hammond said he backed the call
but had some concerns about the plans. For the Liberal Democrats,
David Laws, called for the government to set a firm date for
restoring the link between earnings and the state pension.
