Pussy Galore's pensions campaign

by Ed Bowsher on 20 November 2009  |  2 comments
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Former Bond girl, Honor Blackman, is campaigning for justice for Equitable Life policyholders. I hope she succeeds.

'Goldfinger' has always been my favourite James Bond film. It's got so much going for it. Shirley Bassey singing a cracking theme tune, Sean Connery strapped to a gold table as a laser beam moves towards his privates, and a brilliant combination of Bond girls: Shirley Eaton painted with gold, and Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore. 

So when I saw Honor Blackman's picture in the Telegraph last weekend, I was immediately interested. Turns out she is campaigning on a very important issue - the Equitable Life pensions scandal. Around one million policy holders with the Equitable saw dramatic cuts in the value of their pensions at the beginning of the millennium and a big part of the blame for that lies with regulators. Yet the government refuses to provide any compensation. 

As a taxpayer, part of me understands the government's reluctance to pay up. All of us will have to chip in if compensation is ever paid. But the reality is that a lot of people saved hard for many years for their retirements and have then received much smaller pensions than they expected - through no fault of their own. 

I believe that government compensation is the only fair solution so I support Honor Blackman's campaign. I fear she's not going to get anywhere but I'll be delighted if I'm proved wrong.

The crucial point about the Equitable scandal is that it hasn't just affected the unfortunate policyholders. 

It's also put many people off from saving for a pension. I made a video on pensions earlier this year and when I went out on the streets with a microphone asking for opinions, I was depressed by the number of people who said they'd never save for a pension because they feared their savings would be siphoned off by crooks and incompetents. 

With life expectancy rising, and government budgets getting worse, everyone between the ages of 22 and 65 should be trying to save for their retirement if they possibly can. I'm not too bothered about what savings vehicle people choose. I just think everyone should save.

Meanwhile I wish Honor Blackman the best of luck in her campaign to get justice for policyholders.