Pensions Bill

My Lords, I support the amendment. I hope that the Government and the Minister will agree to reconsider this in the light of what has been said by the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, about increased longevity, which I think the Government and most people in this country underestimate. The change is phenomenal. Since the rules were brought into play, there has been an enormous change in life expectancy. We now have legislation encouraging older people to stay on at work. We have a great deal of encouragement for flexibility in work, in retirement and in increased activity to a much older age than we could have imagined in 1976 or 1986. In the light of that, it is absolutely essential that the age at which you need to convert savings into an annuity should be looked at again, I hope to as high an age as possible, or removed. It is high time that the Government took these proposals seriously in the spirit in which they are intended. Please look again and see whether something can be done.