11/7/05

MP SLAMMED

High Peak Labour MP Tom Levitt has been roundly criticised over comments he has made over pensions. In a recent article in the local press Mr. Levitt claimed that the Financial Assistance Scheme was already helping pension victims out. This claim has been slammed by leading pensions activist Ros Altmann, and also by the Mail on SUnday.  Mr. Levitt also described the Pension Protection Fund as an insurance policy without premiums for the victims of the T&N scheme. Andrew Bingham criticised Mr. Levitt's comments saying, "he claims that no premiums have been paid, he conveniently forgets that these people have been paying regularly into a pension fund for years. Also he ignores the fact that the T&N scheme is not yet in the PPF, and if and when it does enter, then people will still only get up to 95% of their entitlement without any index linking

4/7/05

Action Group meet

The T&N action group met again on Saturday to discuss the next move. It was decided that whilst the PPF is better than what had been thought would be offered, it was by no means the perfect solution. The failings of the PPF should be highlighted. Concerns were raised over Mr. Levitt's continued ambivalence to the situation

1/7/05

Action Group to meet again

The action committee formed last year to try and help the T&N victims are meeting this week to discuss their next line of action. An update will be posted here

12/5/05

Andrew pledges to fight on for T&N

Despite norrowly failing last week to become the MP for the High Peak Andrew Bingham has said that he will continue to help the victims of the T&N pension affair. He said, "naturally I am disappointed not to have won, but this does not diminish my resolve. Obviously if I had won then I would have been in a lot stronger position to help, but I will still try and do whatever I can wherever I can and however I can. I hope that I can call a meeting of the action group again soon to decide out next course of action".

24/02/05

Statement to the Mail on Sunday

It would appear that the Government has given up on Federal Mogul making any offer to save the pension fund.

I asked them to prepare for this moment over 6 months ago. I organized a petition that was signed by almost 5000 people, calling for action in anticipation of this moment and I’m pleased that Tom Levitt has agreed to present this petition to Parliament. 

Assuming the T&N scheme doesn’t start winding up in the next few weeks, it looks like it could fall under the Pension Protection Fund.  This is supposed to provide 90% of the pensions that people have been promised.  That is obviously a great improvement on the figures that have been mentioned before, but it is still not 100% and I know that many at T&N will still feel cheated.

My first concern has always been for the people at Federal Mogul and their futures.  If the 90% offer via the PPF is the best for them, then I will support it as solution.

However, we shouldn’t forget that the whole point of the PPF is to stop anyone else from having to suffer the anxiety that has gripped the High Peak over the last few months.  Burdening other pension schemes with the deficit from T&N won’t help in that respect.  It would have been better to use the unclaimed assets of banks and other financial institutions to help Federal Mogul workers than to ask healthier pension schemes to pick up the bill. 

Moreover, what would happen if the scheme starts to wind up before the PPF comes into being?  This week, the Government said that people within three years of retirement age would get 80% of their pensions, but couldn’t offer any assurance to people who may be five or ten years away from retirement.

The Government (& Mr. Levitt) still refuse to accept the damage that Gordon Brown’s tax on pension funds has caused to the pensions industry and confidence in the concept of saving via a pension as a whole.

20/01/05

Alan Johnson has sent yet another snub to all the people affected by the Ferodo pension crisis, to all the people who spent hours collecting signatures on a rain sodden Saturday, and to all the 4500 people who signed the Ferodo petition by once again refusing to meet a delegation from Chapel and accept their petition.In his letter he claims that he is sympathetic to the plight of the Ferodo workers past or present; although his current actions seem to suggest this not to be the case.

Andrew said, "I am appalled by this second refusal. I now intend to go to the top and attempt to take the petition to Downing Street ! "

22/12/04

The subject of pensions is on the agenda at the Derbyshire Conservative Conference early in the new year. With a number of Conservative MPs and Shadow Ministers present, Andrew will ensure that the subject of T&N is raised and debated. He would like people affected by this crisis to put forward ideas of what the wording of the motion should be, so that the issues are discussed directly. If you would like to send you ideas to Andrew please email hpca@tory.org

21/12/04

Still no word back from Alan Johnson as to when/if he is prepared to accept the petition. This is not really good enough - as the news continues to becomes more worrying day by day it becomes more important that the Government shows that it is listening.

Press coverage of the situation means that it is kept in the public conscious. There have been the recent articles in the Mail on Sunday about Chapel specifically. In the last few days Andrew Bingham has been contacted by the producer of Tonight with Trevor McDonald and the Today Programme (Radio Four) who are both interested in running the story in the new year.

09/12/04

Following the news that Federal Mogul have withdrawn their offer to continue to fund the T&N pension scheme;

I feel absolutely shattered for the people at Ferodo, after 5 months of uncertainty and discussion they have received this news at the worse possible time. There will not be much Christmas cheer in the High Peak this year !

Following the snub we received from Alan Johnson, the pensions minister, when he could not find the time to receive our petition, I have written to him again in the light of this news, asking that he makes time to accept the petition and meet with T&N employees.

His first refusal was bad enough, but a second one in the present circumstances would be unforgivable.

The question being asked by everyone is what now? As I have always said, I do not wish to cut across the work that the trustees and the unions are doing to rectify this problem. My role is to try and force the Government to act. Up to now they have been conspicuous by their lack of action.

With unclaimed assets sitting in banks and other financial institutions across the land, I return to the solution already suggested by the Conservatives to use this money as a way of helping out the workers of Federal Mogul. Added to this, the money that Gordon Brown has plundered from pension funds since 1997, presently standing at approximately £35 BILLION, it is time that the Government stepped in with some positive action.

At present we are between

A)     The Financial Assistance Scheme, which is grossly under funded even without the T&N schemes liabilities.

and

A)     The new Pension Protection Fund which also has grave shortcomings; it is to be funded by imposing a £300m a year levy on existing pension funds. If the T&N fund were to fall under this then the PPF could almost bankrupt before it starts. This means that Government have ducked their responsibility by shifting this additional liability on to these healthy schemes. This increased cost on employers will undermine their confidence and may result in the closing of more final salary schemes. This will lead to a downward spiral, with less paying more until the PPF becomes unsustainable.

One question I would ask of Tony Blair and his Government is, how can they justify the hours and hours spent discussing foxhunting recently whilst things like this have been shoved aside.

They should immediately look to use the unclaimed assets to address this problem. It is peoples lives and futures that are at stake, something they seem oblivious to.

08/12/04

In light of the announcement yesterday, Andrew has again written Alan Johnson insisting that he make the time to meet with Ferodo employees and accept the petition. It is no good to tell people that they should sit tight and wait for news. Just two weeks before Christmas, this will clearly be devestating news for the people involved. It is clearly terrible news and appears to put the situation back to square one.

22/11/04

Having written to Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at the end of September, Andrew has finally recieved a reply. Unfortunately it is not good news. Mr Johnson has refused to receive the petition that now contains well over 4500 signatures, claiming that he simply does not have the time. He is hopefully well aware that over 40 people spent an extremely wet Saturday collecting these signatures from right across the High Peak. This should show Alan Johnson that the strength of feeling regarding pensions in general, not just the situation with T&N, runs extremely high in the High Peak.

In refusing to receive this petition, Mr Johnson has taken away the opportunity for members of the pension scheme to talk with him directly; something that has angered a number of scheme members.

09/11/04

Nigel Waterson, the Shadow Minister for Pensions, yesterday declared that a massive hole had been blown in the original principal of PPF (Pension Protection Fund) after the Government announced that it plans to extend the scheme to funds that have been wound up before April 2005. However in a further shift in policy ministers now plan to shift the burden of responsibilty from the government to the private sector; effectively meaning that companies with healthy pension schemes will now be required to pick up the pieces of insolvent firms.

22/10/04

Press Release from the T&N Action Group

The group that was formed as a result of the meeting organized by Andrew Bingham at the end of July have continued to push for a solution to the T&N pension problem. The group have visited pension activists and Members of Parliament in London. They also organized the recent action day during which over 4000 people signed a petition calling on the Government to take action.

Following the recent offer made by Federal Mogul, the committee met in Chapel-en-le-Frith and take the following view;

“We welcome the news of an improved offer. Whilst it is a huge leap forward to a successful conclusion of the problem, we are still cautious in our approach.

We fervently hope that the new offer will restore the pensions back to previous expectations, but at this stage the proposals need to be studied carefully.

            We still intend to present our petition to the Department for Work and Pensions as we are mindful that even if our own pension problem is solved, there are many others throughout the country that are facing similar heartache to that which we have undergone over the last 3 months.

            As we said, the recent developments have given us great hope but there is still a way to go until we can relax safe in the knowledge that our pensions are once again secure.”

Andrew Bingham

Gordon Belfield

Keith Dolbear

Tony Hill

Daren Robins

Mark Robinson

13th October 2004

On Wednesday 6th October, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the High Peak, Andrew Bingham addressed the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth on the subject of the Federal Mogul pension crisis.

Andrew outlined the seriousness of the situation to the Conference, drawing audible gasps from the audience that numbered around 1000 people.

He went on to say that the Conservatives would, if elected, offer a solution to the problem through the use of unclaimed assets. He then demonstrated the support he had received throughout the High Peak by brandishing the petition that has been signed by over 4000 people calling on the Government to take positive action.

Andrew said, “it was the first time that I have spoken to the main conference and as such it was a little daunting speaking to such a large audience, I am pleased that those in the hall now know how serious the problems are facing the people at Federal Mogul. Several times later in the day, people came to me and expressed their support and their horror at the plight of the pensioners and employees.”

Click to read Andrew's speech to the Party Conference

30th September 2004

Now that around 4000 people have signed the T&N Petition, Andrew has written to Alan Johnson MP, the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to request that the commitee is given the opportunity to present it to him later on in the Autumn. 

27th September 2004

The T&N issue continues to receive good coverage in the media. Yesterday saw both the Mail on Sunday and BBC's Politics Show raise the issue.

Andrew hopes to be given the opportunity to speak at the Conservative Conference in Bournemouth next week regarding the pensions crisis.

Following a request from Andrew Bingham, Chris Heaton-Harris, one of the two Conservative MEPs for the East Midlands region has tabled a written question in the European Parliament to attempt to find out what measures the European Commission has taken to protect those that suffer from financial collapse of occupational pension schemes. 

24th September 2004

Around 4000 people have now signed the T&N pension petition. Thanks to the Mail on Sunday, signatures have been received from as far afield as Somerset and Dorset.

21st September 2004

Last Saturday ws extremely succesful. Despite the bad weather, well over 40 people met up in Chapel and then went on to numerous locations in the area to get the petition signed. Both BBC North West and the Mail on Sunday were on hand to give coverage of the event, and this means that the problem continues to be highlighted.

14th September 2004

PENSIONS ACTION DAY TO GO AHEAD ON SATURDAY 18th SEPTEMBER 2004

Andrew and staff from Federal Morul will be manning petition signing stations throughout the High Peak on Saturday 18th September. The volunteers be inviting members of the public to sign the petition from 10am through to early in the afternoon at a variety of venues. Please go to the events page to see where you can go to sign

9th September 2004

Andrew Bingham accompanied by employees past and present travles to London to meet with Nigel Waterson MP and Ros Altmann to impress on them the situation in Chapel and elsewhere affected by the T&N problem

8th September 2004

Debate in House of Commons on Pensions. Te T&N problem is discussed after being highlighted by David Willets in his opening remarks.

Nigel Waterson refers to the T&N victims in Chapel-en-le-Frith as he presses the Government for some action

7th September 2004

David Willets, Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions, announces on Radio 4's Today programme the intention of focussing the first opposition debate of the new parliamentary session on pensions and with particular reference to T&N. Andrew is continuing to feed information in to Mr. Willets to help him pressurise the government.

6th September 2004

Andrew has contacted Mail on Sunday who are right behind the campaign, and in their paper on 5th September mentioned our petition and offered to send it to anyone who wishes to sign it.

2nd September 2004

A pensions action day is planned for Saturday 18th September - please watch this space for further details next week

2nd September 2004

Following a vague and unsatisfactory update released by OPRA regarding the winding up of Company Pensions schemes, Andrew has written to Malcolm Wicks the Pensions Minister, Andrew Smith, Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions reminding them that yet more uncertainty is creating more heartache amongst T&N employees. He has urged them to do something positive, and do it quickly. He has also copied this letter to the Prime Minister.

1st September 2004

Andrew has received an answer from Roger Helmer MEP regarding pension protection in the EU. In Germany companies offer "Betriebsrenten" (company pensions). Companies offering Betriebsrenten are bound by law to set aside reserves or to contract a private insurance for the case of bankruptcy. So company pensions are safe. Andrew has written back to Roger asking him to clarify if this applies to foreign companies operating within Germany.

26th August 2004

Andrew has today spoken to BBC Radio 4's Moneybox programme. They are hoping to run a feature on the T&N Pensions crisis in the programme on 4th September.

19th August 2004

Andrew has a meeting organised with an insolvency expert from a leading firm of accountants. At this meeting he intends to learn as much as he can about the terms of a Chapter 11 agreement and the effects on pension funds.

17th August 2004

Andrew has today been in touch with Andrew Parr of www.Pensionstheft.org to update him on the situation regarding T&N. 

16th August 2004

The first meeting of the comittee was held on Sunday 15th August. Below is a list of actions that are presently taking place.

The committee are meeting with theShadow Minister for Economic Affairs, Nigel Waterson in early September

They are aso meeting with Ros Altmann from the London School of Economics

A petition is being drawn up for signatures calling on the Government to take some action. This will be available within the next few days

We are continuing to lobby the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, Ann Abraham.

Andrew is trying to arrange a meeting with Euro MP's to see if there is anyhting within the EU that can be done to help.

Andrew is pursuing the BBC and Granada TV to take an interest and highlight the problem in one of their local news programmes

Andrew is continuing to talk to his colleagues in Westminster to increase pressure on the Government 

Please bookmark this page for regular updates.