NATIONAL PENSIONERS CONVENTION ALTERNATIVE WHITE PAPER

That this House recognises that the Turner Inquiry and subsequent Government White Paper have sought to address the UK's longer-term pension needs but is concerned that neither document proposes any action to improve current pension provision; therefore welcomes the publication of the National Pensioners Convention's alternative white paper on pension reform, which draws attention to the inadequate level of the basic state pension and the financial plight of millions of today's women pensioners; regrets the absence of proposals by the Government that would be of immediate benefit to today's 11 million pensioners; and calls on the Government to raise the basic state pension above the means-tested benefit level of £114 a week, to restore the link to earnings and to pay it universally to all pensioners as a matter of urgency.