Pension exploiters

My first reaction to the widely-trailed suggestion that the Conservative government might send to gaol people who mismanage pension funds was "I'll believe it when I see it". One should recall the promises Mrs May made from the lectern in Downing Street when she took over in Number Ten, promises which have not been kept. The fact that the pensions pledge was made by someone who is no stranger to the mismanagement of funds in their care (see Private Eye reports on Tony Rudd, his wife and their daughter) must also cast doubt on the government's true intentions. However, I believe there is a verse in the Bible about sinners being blessed who have repented. I hope that is the case, and that the move is more than a ploy to get Jeremy Corbyn and the unions to agree to a deal for withdrawal from the EU.

There is another pensions scandal that the DWP and the Treasury should tackle, one that is perfectly legal: the creaming off of pension money in the form of management and other fees. What is worse is that only a minority of fund managers publicly disclose their costs, according to Gina Miller - whose company does do so. Even if Brexit had not appeared on the horizon to spare money-managing fat cats from tighter financial regulation in the EU, along with Ms Miller's campaign to prevent it, they would have loathed her for her True and Fair campaign.