Comments on: One pension for them, another for us http://heatherbrooke.org/2008/yes-minister/ Heather Brooke is an award-winning writer, journalist and activist Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:17:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Erica Ducat http://heatherbrooke.org/2008/yes-minister/comment-page-1/#comment-1738 Erica Ducat Fri, 15 May 2009 10:33:32 +0000 http://www.yrtk.org/?p=573#comment-1738 Public sector pension reform is long overdue. "These pensions are fully costed and fully affordable" that makes me chuckle For pensions read "MP's expenses". For those wishing to defend the status quo you demonstrate your ignorance on the subject. Read this blog on Public Sector Pensions. It's time to do our children and grandchildren a favour. http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/research/2008/11/new-research-pe.html Poster "Call me Dave" points us in the right direction. Public sector pension reform is long overdue. “These pensions are fully costed and fully affordable” that makes me chuckle
For pensions read “MP’s expenses”. For those wishing to defend the status quo you demonstrate your ignorance on the subject.

Read this blog on Public Sector Pensions. It’s time to do our children and grandchildren a favour.

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/research/2008/11/new-research-pe.html

Poster “Call me Dave” points us in the right direction.

]]> By: Andrew http://heatherbrooke.org/2008/yes-minister/comment-page-1/#comment-1737 Andrew Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:24:24 +0000 http://www.yrtk.org/?p=573#comment-1737 Heather, this is pretty offensive actually. As your first commenter above points out, people in the public sector are mostly on pretty low pay. Having a reasonable final salary scheme is not excessive or greedy or wasteful - it's fair compensation for long years of service on a salary which less than the private sector equivalent. The Torygraph article you link to points out that 10,500 of those 17,000 people are doctors, who will have spent their career in the NHS. Would you prefer they received less of a pension and had more of an incentive to work of the private sector instead? If you you think that public servants should get a smaller pension, what do you think is reasonable? What would you like to have as an annual income once you retire? The reason the rest of the populuace no longer have access to final salary pension schemes is less that they are 'unaffordable', and more to do with Tory and New Labour changes to the law regarding pensions, taxation polic and deregulation in general. If pensions are 'unfunded', that's probably the fault of the politicians and their choices, isn't it - not the public servants themselves. Using FOI to attack real waste is one thing, relaying a press release from a neo-con lobby group that has a broad agenda of slashing public expenditure is another. Heather, this is pretty offensive actually. As your first commenter above points out, people in the public sector are mostly on pretty low pay. Having a reasonable final salary scheme is not excessive or greedy or wasteful – it’s fair compensation for long years of service on a salary which less than the private sector equivalent. The Torygraph article you link to points out that 10,500 of those 17,000 people are doctors, who will have spent their career in the NHS. Would you prefer they received less of a pension and had more of an incentive to work of the private sector instead?

If you you think that public servants should get a smaller pension, what do you think is reasonable? What would you like to have as an annual income once you retire?

The reason the rest of the populuace no longer have access to final salary pension schemes is less that they are ‘unaffordable’, and more to do with Tory and New Labour changes to the law regarding pensions, taxation polic and deregulation in general. If pensions are ‘unfunded’, that’s probably the fault of the politicians and their choices, isn’t it – not the public servants themselves.

Using FOI to attack real waste is one thing, relaying a press release from a neo-con lobby group that has a broad agenda of slashing public expenditure is another.

]]> By: a http://heatherbrooke.org/2008/yes-minister/comment-page-1/#comment-1736 a Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:36:10 +0000 http://www.yrtk.org/?p=573#comment-1736 Urm - what a load of daily mail cobblers. People in public sector pensions are mostly on low pay and make contributions to their pensions. To say that private sector employers ducking their obligations is a justification for public sector pensions being cut is very weak logic. And don't conflate MPs pensions with those received by most public sector staff. Urm – what a load of daily mail cobblers.

People in public sector pensions are mostly on low pay and make contributions to their pensions.

To say that private sector employers ducking their obligations is a justification for public sector
pensions being cut is very weak logic.

And don’t conflate MPs pensions with those received by most public sector staff.

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