Pension victims denied lifeline
They represent thousands of workers who have lost their pensions in collapsed schemes, but today the majority of West Midlands MPs stood accused after voting against a plan that could have provided their constituents with a cash lifeline.
Cannock Chase MP Tony Wright, pictured, was the only Labour MP to back a move put forward by Tories and Liberal Democrats in the Commons last night for an improved "lifeboat fund" to assist pensioners whose schemes had collapsed.
Fifteen Labour MPs rebelled against the Government by backing the plan, slashing its majority to 22 in a 282-260 vote.
Earlier Tony Blair had rejected a call from David Cameron to back the move through a Treasury loan.
The PM insisted that the proposal was "unfunded" and would leave the Treasury with unknown liabilities which eventually add up to nearly £2.5 billion.
However, Opposition MPs and campaigning groups accused Labour MPs in areas like the Black Country, where several pensions schemes have gone bust, of backing the Government rather than their constituents.
Many potential Labour rebels were bought off by concessions from pensions minister James Purnell, including a pledge to extend the existing Financial Assistance Scheme to cover about 8,000 workers whose schemes began winding up between 1997 and 2005.
Mr Purnell said that, when coupled with Gordon Brown's Budget promise to quadruple the assistance scheme to £8 billion, people who qualified could expect to receive around 80 per cent of their core pensions.
Mr Wright told the Commons that the Government had some liability for what had happened.
