Pensions Bill

I am afraid that I am not persuaded by the eloquence of the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis. I noted first, as I suspect that she and I will have arguments about costs throughout the proceedings on the Bill, that she described the figures she received from the department this morning as ““modest””. I do not have the advantage of seeing those figures—though I am sure the Minister will be able to reveal them in due course—but I wonder just how modest is ““modest””. Secondly, the noble Baroness said that even between 5 and 10 per cent of those retiring under the 30-year rule would not have a full contribution record. Some of that 5 to 10 per cent—in other words, about 1 million people—would have the opportunity of using the current system of paying the past six years of NICs. Therefore, you cannot count the entire 1 million or so people to whom the noble Baroness referred. I hope the Minister will be able to cover that in his response.