The 35 MPs who supported us

A hat tip to PCS for publishing the list of 35 MPs who supported all the public and private sector occupational pensioners whose lifetime pensions were reduced by 15% in value at a stroke by George Osborne in June 2010 when he changed the basis on which our pensions were to be uprated from the Retail Price Index (RPI) to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) (http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/index.cfm/id/6374B777-A9FF-4289-9652A49C5B55FA41).



It is shameful that only 20 Labour MPs were part of this principled minority. The equivocation of the leadership of the Parliamentary Labour Party on this question epitomises the weakness which may doom us to further terms of Tory rule.



Last year's UNISON Conference condemned the change in uprating of pensions and called on the National Executive Council to mount a substantial campaign amongst members against the change from RPI to CPI and to call on the Labour Link to work to gain a commitment from the Labour party to repeal this change when re-elected (http://cms.unison.co.uk/MotionText.asp?DocumentID=1002411).



We must not cease this fight just because the majority of the Parliamentary Labour Party have been shown to be a near terminal disappointment. Indeed, were we to be discouraged by the inadequacy of Her Majesty's Opposition right now, we might just as well each seek our own death in service benefits.

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