RPI to CPI Early Day Motion 1032

Andy_L

viridens wrote: »

Much media coverage of the Hutton recommendations and public sector pensions today. Did anyone hear a mention of the RPI/CPI issue? I have listened and watched news reports on radio and tv all day and didn't.

Hutton accepted it, and the +3% contributions, as a "done deal" in his analysis

JamesU

MEY wrote: »

Yes. The BBC News coverage that I saw was deplorable and not at all even handed.

Why do you think this? I felt the BBC and brief Newsnight assessment was quite reasonable given the magnitude and range of changes.

JamesU

MEY_3

JamesU - Newsnight was better but over such a major issue I think more time should have been devoted to it to get a bit of a wider perspective.

As for the News the usual stereotype portrayals were brought out and there was no balance as to a contrary view to the readily accepted picture that has been created. i.e. Public pensions are unaffordable. It was portrayed as just unions being against Hutton's proposals (us and them) but there are economists that don't agree either. When unions are portrayed like this it tends create a Luddite caricature of them. How independent are the independent voices given air time, too?
And the RPI-CPI change should have been emphasised because it is used by Hutton in the context of savings when we are assured that it hasn't been introduced for that reason and experts such as the RSS condemn the government line. This means it is contentious enough as not to be relied as a guaranteed factor, and that should be pointed out.
Read Richard Peston's blog to understand the one-sided slant being given.

Oblivion

Unfortunately I could not get my MP to sign the Early Day Motion as he is a cabinet minister and I gather the protocol is that CMs do not sign EDMs. Hey ho.

So I have written a personal letter this morning to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and The Chancellor. No doubt it will just end up in their three respective waste bins, but at least I feel better having got it off my chest. If I ever do get any response I'll report back ...........................


David Cameron
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

Dear Mr Cameron,
RPI vs CPI Indexing for Pensions in Payment
I am a retired Local Government Officer who spent 40 years serving the public. During those 40 years I paid into the Local Government Pension Scheme in the belief that my resulting pension would be properly protected from future inflation.
Now I find you intend to scrap RPI and use CPI instead, thus lowering my future pension benefits year upon year.
It seems it’s not enough that my wife will now have to wait another 2+ years for her state pension because you’ve moved the goalposts. It’s not enough that the savings we have struggled to put away over the years are now earning next to nothing in interest because of your handling of the economy.
You have failed dismally to bring the fat-cat bankers to heel who are still paying themselves obscene multi-million pound bonuses, so you turn your attention instead on the weak and vulnerable, those of us who are trying to survive on our meagre hard-won pensions.

What a cowardly and spineless thing to do!

If you have a scrap of decency left, I hope to hear it announced in the budget that RPI will be preserved as the means of index linking pensions since those of us who have always previously had RPI regard it as a preserved benefit.

Yours sincerely,

c.c. Nick Clegg & George Osborne

Prof_as_was

Those of us on this forum who are unhappy with the Government's and/or Hutton's analysis and proposals on pensions, either on specifics or generally, will appreciate this (to me brilliant) profound analysis of and alternative vision for the national pension problem. Others won't much like it, of course.

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2011/03/11/the-fundamental-pension-contract/

Prof_as_was

Same goes for this

http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/03/11/polls-show-public-back-decent-public-sector-pensions/

Prof_as_was

And if you don't think inflation is a serious and imminent threat to your well-being, you shopuld check this- when you're feeling strong

http://notayesmanseconomics.wordpress.com/

Ripoff_2

Oblivion wrote: »

Unfortunately I could not get my MP to sign the Early Day Motion as he is a cabinet minister and I gather the protocol is that CMs do not sign EDMs. Hey ho.

So I have written a personal letter this morning to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and The Chancellor. No doubt it will just end up in their three respective waste bins, but at least I feel better having got it off my chest. If I ever do get any response I'll report back ...........................


David Cameron
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

Dear Mr Cameron,
RPI vs CPI Indexing for Pensions in Payment
I am a retired Local Government Officer who spent 40 years serving the public. During those 40 years I paid into the Local Government Pension Scheme in the belief that my resulting pension would be properly protected from future inflation.
Now I find you intend to scrap RPI and use CPI instead, thus lowering my future pension benefits year upon year.
It seems it’s not enough that my wife will now have to wait another 2+ years for her state pension because you’ve moved the goalposts. It’s not enough that the savings we have struggled to put away over the years are now earning next to nothing in interest because of your handling of the economy.
You have failed dismally to bring the fat-cat bankers to heel who are still paying themselves obscene multi-million pound bonuses, so you turn your attention instead on the weak and vulnerable, those of us who are trying to survive on our meagre hard-won pensions.

What a cowardly and spineless thing to do!

If you have a scrap of decency left, I hope to hear it announced in the budget that RPI will be preserved as the means of index linking pensions since those of us who have always previously had RPI regard it as a preserved benefit.

Yours sincerely,

c.c. Nick Clegg & George Osborne

Maybe the time has come for us all to take a leaf out of Oblivions book and write a similar letter........Pen to paper ALL

Mine are now in the post

teacher_retired

Its worth taking a look at Daily telegraph site 'Theres nothing unaffordable about public sector pensions by Jeremy Warner March 11th 2011'.
An interesting economic analysis & point of view that current changes already made would suffice without Hutton.

Ripoff_2

teacher_retired wrote: »

Its worth taking a look at Daily telegraph site 'Theres nothing unaffordable about public sector pensions by Jeremy Warner March 11th 2011'.
An interesting economic analysis & point of view that current changes already made would suffice without Hutton.

I believe the changes to public sector pensions are more to do with making it easier to hive off and sell to the private sector. The 50% extra contributions, the RPI to CPI change and the extra added years to 68 that have been implimented already make it far easier to sell to the private sector, than they could with the existing terms.

It's yet another CON TRICK by a Government with no morals and NO MANDATE!

Put pen to paper and use Oblivions letter in the previous post to write to Cameron, Clegg and Osborne. Let them know how you really feel, don't hold back!