Funded Pensions — 2 Jul 2002 at 21:41

I beg to move,

That this House agrees with the Government's stated aim of increasing from 40 per cent. to 60 per cent. the proportion of pensioners' incomes that comes from the private sector, but condemns the Government for failing to pursue policies which would achieve this objective and instead imposing a massive £5 billion annual tax on pension funds, and for presiding over the lowest savings ratio since records began; notes that fewer than four in ten final salary schemes are now open to new members and is shocked by the Government's complacency in the face of widespread concern about the future of funded pensions; and therefore calls on the Government to cut the burden of regulation on pension funds, reverse the spread of means testing among pensioners, reform annuities and provide better incentives for people to save, so that they can enjoy a prosperous retirement.

I beg to move, To leave out from "House" to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:

'welcomes the Government's framework for pensions which will reduce pensioner poverty and encourage saving; recognises that pensions are best provided on the firm foundation of the sound economy the Government has put in place, with partnership between employees and employers, pension providers and Government; congratulates the Government on the extra £6 billion paid to pensioners from April of this year and its intention to bring in the Pension Credit which will increase the incomes of around half of all pensioners; further welcomes the introduction and progress of stakeholder pensions; recognises that there is still more to do and looks forward to receiving the Pickering and Sandler Reviews and consulting on proposals for reform in the Autumn.'.

Question put, That the original words stand part of the Question:-

The House divided: Ayes 140, Noes 381.

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |

Public Whip is run as a free not-for-profit service. If you'd like to support us, please consider switching your (UK) electricity and/or gas to Octopus Energy or tip us via Ko-Fi.

Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Con0 140 (+2 tell)086.6%
Independent1 00100.0%
Lab328 (+2 tell) 0080.5%
LDem43 0081.1%
PC4 00100.0%
SNP3 0060.0%
UUP2 0033.3%
Total:381 140081.6%

Rebel Voters - sorted by constituency

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
no rebellions

About the Project

The Public Whip is a not-for-profit, open source website created in 2003 by Francis Irving and Julian Todd and now run by Bairwell Ltd.

The Whip on the Web

Help keep PublicWhip alive