Alistair Carmichael

Thanks to Alistair Carmichael, MP for the Shetlands and the Orkneys (a BP heartland) for securing a 90 minute debate on private pensions.

Despite an attempt late in the debate to hi-jack the debate by Therese Coffey, this was not a political but a moral debate. This was a discussion about the behaviour of BP’s, Shell’s, Exxon’s, Hewlett Packard’s and other company pension schemes not honouring their pension promises, even though they have funds to do so.

In his statement , Carmichael told the House

“I have no doubt for many of the big corporates, the BPs the Shells the Hewlett Packards, the possibility of paying money to those who are no longer economically active or contributing to their businesses is tiresome and inconvenient.

But what never ceases to amaze me is the extent to which those at the top of these corporates seem to think that somehow the corporates are as big as they are simply because of the role that THEY play. They don’t seem to understand that they are the inheritors of businesses built by others and that those others are now amongst those who would be the pension beneficiaries.

I think Madam Dept Speaker, if one is to stand on the shoulders of others then it is always good to respect that you only enjoy the view you have because of the shoulders on which you stand.”

Carmichael went on to lambast current BP executive as the “inheritors of a business built by its pensioners“.

The Chamber was sparsely populated, it being local elections day and the day before a parliamentary holiday;  but the quality of the debate was high.

You can watch the debate here – it starts at 13.30 and ends at 4pm.

The detail of Carmichael’s speech included an exposition of the problems outlined by the PR Newswire on 29th March, where the Standard Oil pensioners in Ohio successfully claimed against BP for non-payment of pension rights in the USA.

Reference was made to Patrick Hosking’s excellent article on the “Coming battle over Companies Pension Billions“.

Contributions to the debate came from Stephen Timms’ , the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee that has looked at and commented on the a number of the issues debated including;-

• the non-payment of BP and Shell discretionary increases
• the non-payment of pensions earned prior to 1997 by Hewlett Packard and others (including BSPS) and the demand of these pensioners for “an ethical code for trustees and employers”,
• the shortfall in compensation to pensioners by the Financial Assistance Scheme (championed by Terry Monk and others). ASW was quoted.

Parliament has for nearly a millennium been a chamber for discussion of grievances of citizens. Members of Parliament argue for their constituents and Government weighs those arguments against the arguments of those complained against and determine the  common good.

This was not a debate about the State Pension , though Therese Coffey tried to turn it into one by arguing against Labour policy on it. Others tried to widen the debate to include auto-enrolment, the Mansion House reforms and the adequacy of DC as a replacement for a fast retreating DB world. There were discussions about the gender pay gap and of inter-generational fairness between young and old. The debate also spoke to the issues of the WASPI women.

Ministerial response

The debate started at 1.30 am, it was not till ten past three that Pension Minister Paul Maynard stood up to read his statement. Maynard stressed the limitations of legislation which cannot force scheme trustees to pay discretionary increases. He brought the House’s attention to the issues of the long term viability of pensions but his response was perforce perfunctory.

Carmichael’s summation of the debate concluded by referencing BP, Shell, Exon and Hewlett Packard (some of the

“the people who run these companies should understand we are watching what they are doing, they have an obligation to treat their pensioners fairly and if they do not do feel they have an obligation to do this, we in Government will make sure they will”.

Alistair Carmichael