Hang on guys. MPs have to vote for this first and as they always vote MASSIVELY for their own increased salaries, I can't really see them voting too soon or too seriously for an effective pay cut in retirement. It could take years to agree, and it is probably only a ruse to try and get our eyes off the appalling mess Brown and Darling have put us all in anyway.
Many Pruners have squarely hit the nail. It is the ludicrously bloated Labour client state (including the civil service) that has caused this mess. The government, of whatever hue, has always taken money in with one hand and immediately paid it out with the other. This week's national insurance contributions are paid to pensioners and benefit recipients next week.
Remember that it was Nye Bevan - one of the founders of the Welfare State - who used to say: "The great secret about the National Insurance fund is that there ain't no fund."
Pip pip
ON
Last edited by Old Ned; 14th Feb 2009 at 15:57.
Reason: Whoops typo