News from the New Party

Government risks civil unrest over pensions

The Government is creating a social pressure cooker by failing to reduce the heat on public sector pensions, New Party leader Richard Vass said today.

He was responding to news from the new Public Sector Pensions Commission, set up by the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Institute of Directors and other groups and chaired by an independent actuary, that unless action were taken to stem public sector pensions payments, taxpayers would face "unacceptable rises."

Richard Vass: "Almost six million public sector workers are guaranteed a pension based on a proportion of their final salaries. However, most private sector companies have had to do away with final salary schemes altogether.

"The Government is now actively promoting a two-tier society in a last desperate attempt to win votes. Workers in the private sector will have to exist on the scraps left after the public sector has gorged itself. This is a sure recipe for disputes, strikes and possibly even civil unrest as the full extent of our imminent poverty becomes clear," he says.
 
Documents released alongside the Pre-Budget Report revealed the government faced unfunded pension liabilities of £770billion in March last year, up from £650billion in March 2006.

The Commission estimates taxpayers will have to contribute £18billion to public sector pensions during the 2010-11 tax year. Over that period around £25billion is expected to be paid out.