Pensions Bill

The mention of housing benefit reminded me to intervene. The hon. Gentleman has still not made clear Liberal Democrat policy on and attitude to means-testing. All that he has said today and on previous occasions suggests that means-testing is bad and should not form part of the system of income that we pay to pensioners. As the Minister for Pensions Reform pointed out, doing away with means-testing would mean that the citizen’s pension would have to be considerably higher than the income guarantee simply because there are means-tested benefits such as housing benefit, carer’s benefit and so on. Do the Liberal Democrats want to do away with housing benefit, which is means-tested and important for pensioners, or does the hon. Gentleman claim that means-testing is dreadful except for the poor, for whom it is okay?