Independence and Pensions was the subject of the United with Labour meeting in Ayr Town Hall last Thursday. A packed meeting heard from local MP Sandra Osborne and Labour's Shadow Pensions Minister, Gregg McClymont MP.
Mr. McClymont said 'The benefits of the UK pension system are universally acknowledged - even by the SNP. Over 100 pages of the SNP's white paper on pensions is devoted to describing the UK wide pension system - no wonder since Alex Salmond wants to keep most of it. The nationalists might want to leave the UK but they know Scots value the UK firewall which provides occupational and private pensions' security and peace of mind for savers and pensioners. It's the same argument that the SNP make on the pound. Just as Scotland can retain all the benefits of the UK pound after leaving the UK via a monetary union so Scotland can also maintain all the benefits of UK pensions via "a pan UK system". Everything will change utterly if we gain our independence says Salmond; yet everything will stay the same.The only way for Scotland to remain a partner in the UK pensions system is for Scotland to remain a partner in the UK, pooling and sharing our resources. For what is the UK national pension system but a form of collective insurance against poverty & indignity in old age where risk and reward is shared across classes, across regions, across nations, and across generations young and old.
Sandra Osborne said ''If we vote to leave the UK, then we would need to set up – and pay for – a separate Scottish pensions regulator, a separate Scottish financial services compensation scheme, a separate National Employers Savings Trust for workplace pensions and a separate Payment Protection Fund (PPF) to protect workers when their company folds. Again, the SNP have not said how much replicating all these existing UK bodies would cost us or where the money would come from '
This was the second of three meetings the local MP is organising as part of the United with Labour campaign. On June 5th, in the Citadel, Dame Anne Begg MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee will speak on Sharing the risk on Welfare.
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Mr. McClymont said 'The benefits of the UK pension system are universally acknowledged - even by the SNP. Over 100 pages of the SNP's white paper on pensions is devoted to describing the UK wide pension system - no wonder since Alex Salmond wants to keep most of it. The nationalists might want to leave the UK but they know Scots value the UK firewall which provides occupational and private pensions' security and peace of mind for savers and pensioners. It's the same argument that the SNP make on the pound. Just as Scotland can retain all the benefits of the UK pound after leaving the UK via a monetary union so Scotland can also maintain all the benefits of UK pensions via "a pan UK system". Everything will change utterly if we gain our independence says Salmond; yet everything will stay the same.The only way for Scotland to remain a partner in the UK pensions system is for Scotland to remain a partner in the UK, pooling and sharing our resources. For what is the UK national pension system but a form of collective insurance against poverty & indignity in old age where risk and reward is shared across classes, across regions, across nations, and across generations young and old.
Sandra Osborne said ''If we vote to leave the UK, then we would need to set up – and pay for – a separate Scottish pensions regulator, a separate Scottish financial services compensation scheme, a separate National Employers Savings Trust for workplace pensions and a separate Payment Protection Fund (PPF) to protect workers when their company folds. Again, the SNP have not said how much replicating all these existing UK bodies would cost us or where the money would come from '
This was the second of three meetings the local MP is organising as part of the United with Labour campaign. On June 5th, in the Citadel, Dame Anne Begg MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee will speak on Sharing the risk on Welfare.
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