Brown on Pensions: Negative, Repetitive and Lacking Credibility
Monday 21 April 2014
Ahead of Gordon Brown’s speech tomorrow in which he will attempt to scaremonger on pensions despite his abysmal track record on them as Chancellor and Prime Minister, SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson Eilidh Whiteford said:
“Gordon Brown is simply repeating the same economically illiterate claims the Tories and Lib Dems made over a year ago. On this backwards logic the UK pensions bill is 25 times the value of its oil and gas - making it impossible for the UK to afford to pay for pensions.
“The only new thing in this contribution is that Gordon Brown has finally ended the charade and joined his Labour colleagues in the Tory No campaign.
"Far from re-launching as a positive campaign this contribution is negative, repetitive and lacks any credibility.
“The reality is that pensions are more affordable in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, a view supported by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research who have also made clear that the demographic challenge is no more important to Scotland than it is to the rest of the UK.
"Pensioners and public sector workers across Scotland will have little faith in Gordon Brown's comments on pensions. As Chancellor he failed to restore the link to earnings leaving pensioners out of pocket and his raid on the pension funds saw pensioners lose £100bn of investments. Meanwhile public sector workers have seen the terms and conditions of their pensions eroded and the Scottish Government threatened with funding cuts if it didn't implement the same policies.
"With independence we will be able to ensure a fair deal for pensioners with a triple lock on the state pension to keep pace with the cost of living, a review of the pension age to ensure it is right for Scotland's pensioners and a fair approach to public sector pensions."
“The only new thing in this contribution is that Gordon Brown has finally ended the charade and joined his Labour colleagues in the Tory No campaign.
"Far from re-launching as a positive campaign this contribution is negative, repetitive and lacks any credibility.
“The reality is that pensions are more affordable in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, a view supported by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research who have also made clear that the demographic challenge is no more important to Scotland than it is to the rest of the UK.
"Pensioners and public sector workers across Scotland will have little faith in Gordon Brown's comments on pensions. As Chancellor he failed to restore the link to earnings leaving pensioners out of pocket and his raid on the pension funds saw pensioners lose £100bn of investments. Meanwhile public sector workers have seen the terms and conditions of their pensions eroded and the Scottish Government threatened with funding cuts if it didn't implement the same policies.
"With independence we will be able to ensure a fair deal for pensioners with a triple lock on the state pension to keep pace with the cost of living, a review of the pension age to ensure it is right for Scotland's pensioners and a fair approach to public sector pensions."
