Member

Let us say we did the very minimum and took those contributions by public sector workers, ring-fenced them and said, “That’s yours. It’s not going to be used for anything else. It’s not going to be used to pay other people’s pensions. We’re just going to take your contributions and ring-fence them—no other change”. Immediately, there would be a £57 billion black hole in the nation’s accounts, which would reflect the reality of the situation, even on a pay-as-you-go measure. We had to endure months, even years, of the £20 billion black hole that the previous Government were meant to have left. It varied: it was £20 billion, it was £40 billion; it was a moveable feast. Never was it anywhere near as high as the £57 billion that would immediately occur. What would the Government do then? It is not their fault—this is a long-standing problem—but what I have explained is the reality of the situation that we are all carefully ignoring.