There is a fast and diminishing will and ability within the contemporary media to commit the resources needed, both financial and intellectual, to sustain campaigns that tackle serious injustices – particularly when it comes to financial fraud.
-
As such, PAG’s relentless campaigning combined humour with a steely resolve and lashings of media savvy. The group used a long ‘Stripped of our Pensions’ banner, held by up to a dozen naked campaigners, their modesty covered only by the banner itself. It was an image that secured acres of newspaper coverage – so much so that PAG repeated the stunt at every Conservative and Labour party conference for years. Other demonstrations saw the ‘pensions theft’ victims dress up as gangsters, St George slaying his dragon, or Laurel and Hardy. The cause was desperate – not least as PAG members were using their diminishing savings to finance their demonstrating antics, which took them to many parts of the country. Some of those affected died without receiving any pension. A few became so distraught they committed suicide. But the media image was one of stoical determination, backed by remorseless logic and tempered with an eye-catching sense of black comedy.
While building a media presence, the PAG also sought and secured expert help – largely from volunteers. Chief among those was Ros Altmann, an experienced investment manager and pensions professional who was shocked by their plight. Altmann used her contacts and skill to help secure PAG legal opinions and a galaxy of helpful consultancy reports. When combined with the group’s growing media clout, such evidence meant the Humphreys and the growing ranks of the PAG couldn’t be dismissed by officialdom.
As a direct result of the PAG’s campaigning, the government set up the Pension Protection Fund in 2005. Funded by industry levies, it was designed to pay 90% of workers’ pensions if their occupational schemes went bust. Today, hundreds of thousands of present and future retirees are benefiting from, or stand to benefit, from the PPF.
Crucially, though, those who lost pension rights before the PPF was established – around 125,000, including much of the PAG – remained uncovered. There was much further protesting and legal and political grappling, including ever more ingenious protests, which eventually led to the government establishing the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) specifically for such retirees, initially setting aside £2bn of public money.
The UK has made great progress in tackling pensioner poverty over recent decades. But vast swathes of those currently in their 40s and 50s are heading towards retirement with no pension savings.
-
Before the FAS started working properly, though, paying out pension due, there were more battles to come. As entitled but still pension-less retirees died, there was much disgraceful foot-dragging by ministers and officials. A Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report found the ‘gross injustice’ highlighted by the PAG had resulted from ‘government maladministration’ and repeated instances of bad regulation.
PAG took its case to the European Court of Justice, which said ministers had acted in a manner that was ‘unlawful and inadequate’. And when a High Court Judge upheld the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s verdict, against which the government has astonishingly appealed, Chancellor Gordon Brown, in a surreal twist, ‘rejected’ that verdict too. At that point, PAG’s demonstrations, and their broader plight, became a major national news story, ultimately forcing the government to submit.
Last week’s PAG gathering in Hemel Hempstead was the tenth anniversary of the weekend when the Humphreys were telephoned by then Pensions Minister Mike O’Brien, who told them the government had finally agreed to fund and administer the FAS properly. PAG members talk warmly of O’Brien. He is one of few government figures who comes out of this sorry saga with any credit.
It was an uplifting gathering, as I said – attended also by Altmann, whose stellar work eventually saw her brought into government, and also Jeff Prestridge, the doyenne Mail on Sunday personal finance journalist, who also took up the PAG’s cause. There was much talk of self-help, determination, making your own luck and ‘beating the system’. I also reflected that this whole episode highlighted the overwhelming necessity, when capitalism throws up manifestly unfair outcomes, of appropriate government intervention.
Delighted to have met up with the PAG gang, though, reliving journalistic adventures past, I have nagging concerns on two fronts. The first is the fast diminishing will and ability of the contemporary media to commit the resources needed, both financial and intellectual, to sustain campaigns that tackle serious injustices – particularly when it comes to financial fraud.
Covering a story like ‘pension theft’ in depth, helping to ‘shift the dial’, was a legal and political minefield. It’s the kind of journalism that requires resilience, an eye on the long-term and the capacity within an organisation to get beyond the demands of daily news. Tackling complex yet hugely important stories relies on financial and editorial backing for the long-haul – which I was lucky (some of the time) to have, but which now seems painfully thin on the ground.
The second issue that troubles me is the more specific lack of pension provision. Three in ten Britons aged 55-64 have no pension savings, or savings that are entirely inadequate, according to a 2016 report for Scottish Widows. That rises to almost half of 30-40 year-olds. The UK has made great progress in tackling pensioner poverty over recent decades. But vast swathes of those currently in their 40s and 50s are heading towards retirement with no pension savings. Laboring under enormous mortgage debts due to bloated house prices, or unable to get on the property ladder and paying high rents, they find it almost impossible to put adequate money. As such, we could soon see a return in the UK to widespread pensioner poverty – which ever more people relying only on a basic state pension which, by international standards, remains rather low.
The workers who combined so heroically to form the PAG were able to fight for their pensions because, having made substantial contributions over many years, they had something to fight for. Increasingly few of their successors can claim the same.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe