Farage also ruled out protecting the state pension triple lock
Nigel Farage has been condemned for hinting at cutting public sector workers’ pensions.
In an interview earlier this morning, Reform deputy leader Richard Tice suggested public sector pensions would be at risk under a Reform government.
Tice told Politico journalist Dan Bloom: “You’re not asking about the much, much bigger issue, right – which is, how long can we carry on offering defined benefit pensions to all public sector workers?”.
Speaking from Banking Hall in the City of London, Farage was asked by ITV News journalist Joel Hills whether he planned to cut public sector pensions.
The journalist asked: “You share Richard Tice’s concerns about the affordability of public sector pensions. Is your message to teachers, to police officers, to NHS staff that if they vote Reform at the next election, you will cut their pensions?”.
Farage replied “no”, saying that Reform would look at reducing the fees paid to pension firms managing public sector schemes. But this doesn’t match with Tice’s comments earlier today, which indicate Reform could cut defined benefit public sector pensions.
“What we’ve discovered, and this is through a fairly brief look at the way that the pension funds are run at county level is that they are paying exorbitant fees […] to the pensions industry, which of course cumulatively over 25 or 30 year period adds up to a very large chunk of money,” Farage said.
He said in closing: “Our ambition is to ensure they save money and deliver better value.”
Right-wing newspapers have consistently criticised defined benefit public sector pensions, claiming it is unfair, as most private sector workers have defined contribution pensions, which are less generous.
However, public sector workers are often paid less than those in the private sector.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union, pointed out that “The public sector already has a pay crisis.
“There are hundreds of thousands of vacancies in the NHS and care sectors and a retention crisis in teaching.”
“In the civil service – which is the lowest payer in the public sector – it can’t compete to attract and retain the key skills it needs for the future.”
Penman said ending defined benefit pension schemes would only make this situation worse.
Farage also refused to rule out scrapping the triple lock on state pensions, which guarantees that pensions rise with inflation.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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