Exscribbler.
Your quote below shows how out of touch the public sector is with what is happening in the real world.
"I must note that those in the private sector were very happy with their money-purchase schemes when the stock market was doing well."
This is pure drival - before our unelected PM destroyed the private sector final salary schemes the UK pension sector, both public and private, was one of the best in the world. Once Brown had destroyed the final salary schemes companies moved pensioners into money purchase schemes which, unlike public sector pensions, give no guarentee of pension.
Why should the public sector not suffer the same as the private and be moved onto a money purchase scheme? Afterall public sector jobs are more secure than private sector jobs - I have yet to hear of a single public sector worker being made redundant recently.
This nettle has to be grasped now before nearly all tax revenue goes into paying unfunded public sector pensions. All new start public sector employees should be offered money purchase schemes with the employer contribution funded at the time by HMG.
AP