In an impassioned plea for midlands pensioners in Parliament today, Michael
Fabricant said that "Low interest rates, while welcome for borrowers, is
crippling for pensioners on a fixed income. It is making the present
pensions crisis in the midlands and elsewhere far worse."

He added: "The Government’s policy on means testing pensioners is a
disincentive for them to save and I know a number of senior citizens in
Burntwood and Lichfield living in nursing and care homes seeing their
savings whittled away because the interest no longer covers the cost of
staying in their home."

He supported a Parliamentary debate on pensions which "expresses deep
concern at Government policies that have led to a decline in funded pension
provision and a massive extension of dependence on means-tested benefits;
deplores the £5 billion per annum pensions tax and the erosion of incentives
to save, which have caused the halving of the Savings Ratio, and have
resulted in only 19 per cent. of final salary pension schemes remaining open
to new members; condemns the Government for extending dependence on
means-testing to over half of pensioners, despite earlier promises to the
contrary, and for ignoring the interests of 1.4 million of the poorest
pensioners who, on the Government’s own target, will still not be receiving
Pension Credit in 2006; notes that Government policies have created a big
disincentive to save and led to an increase in the number of pensioners in
persistent poverty; and calls on the Government to support state pension
reform to reduce dependence on means-tested benefits, to remove the
disincentive to save, to improve the financial position of pensioners,
including the 1.4 million poorest pensioners, and to provide better
incentives to save."