Alexander’s not for turning

After the vacillations of recent days, the government could do with a show of hardheadedness — and Danny Alexander is delivering just that today. He is announcing the government’s plans for public sector pension reform later, and they’re exactly the sort of plans that will set the union bosses frothing: an increase in the public sector retirement age to 66, an increase in contributions, that sort of thing. But the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is unapolgetic. In an article for the Telegraph, he effectively says that this is a take-it-or-leave-it offer for the public sector. “It may be that those who oppose change think they can force the Government to change its mind,” he writes, with his pen pointed accusingly at the unions planning strikes for next month. “This is a colossal mistake.”

Part of Alexander’s resolve is down to the details of the government’s plans: they have made provisions to exempt the poorest public sector workers — as well as those working in the army, police or fire service — from some of the new measures. But part of is down to the fiscal realities of the matter. As Alexander puts it in his Telegraph article:

“[The] case is simple. People are living much longer — the average 60 year old is living ten years longer now than they did in the 70s. This advance comes at a price. It is unjustifiable to ask the taxpayer to work longer and pay more so that public sector workers can retire earlier and receive more themselves.”

Even putting aside some of the misleading numbers that are being forwarded by both sides of the argument, the simple fact is that the system is riddled with inconsistencies and iniquities — and is becoming more unaffordable by the day. Already, the government’s pension liabilities are thought to top £1 trillion. That is not a position to take unthinkingly into future decades.

Another line from Alexander’s article stands out. “Only one in five members of the Public and Commercial Services union voted on Wednesday for strike action,” he writes, “the vast majority realise that such a step is unjustifiable” — which is much the same point that Boris makes when arguing for redrawn strike laws. After Cable’s hazy warning a couple of weeks ago, the coalition is clearly eager to maintain a squeeze on the brothers, even if only rhetorically.