Middle MHK Stu Peters says a briefing from Treasury has resulted in him choosing to support proposed changes to pensions.
The highly controversial changes will see people who retire(d) after 2019 switching to a system where they would received either 2% or CPI linked increase, whichever is highest.
Statement in Full
Mr Peters said:
I’ve been struggling with Treasury’s intention of removing the state pension ‘triple lock’ which echoed the same scheme in the UK. Various concerned constituents have emailed me about it and I was initially against the proposal, in that state pensioners get little enough already, especially when compared to similar pensions across Europe.
But after a member’s briefing I’ve changed my thinking – and remember I’m no spring chicken so have a vested interest in looking after our pensioners (and before anyone accuses me of having a gold-plated Tynwald pension, I haven’t as I’m not in the scheme)!
The triple lock relies on financial movement and prices in the UK, rather than here. The ‘double lock’ scheme proposed by Treasury will maintain pensions in line with cost of living increases here. Without it our £1bn NI reserve will be depleted completely by 2047, and that is unthinkable. It would be wrong to deny our children and their children a State Pension because my generation was inflexible.
Also, the bigger pensions across Europe are generally because of their higher contribution rates. You can’t have cake and halfpennies.
So I’ll vote for the change. I’m sorry to anyone who I’ve replied to previously to say I wouldn’t support it, but I have to make decisions based on the information I have.
3 Comments