Hoggart on Webb: “He understands it so you don’t have to! Thank heavens!”

steve webbThe Guardian’s Simon Hoggart has been collecting examples of impenetrable jargon. This week, Lib Dem pensions minister Steve Webb features:

Thanks for the many examples of jargon you’ve sent in, and we’ll have a proper look at it all soon. In the meantime, there are examples which are actually quite helpful.

Take work and pensions, which is without a doubt the most difficult of all government departments. Yet the Liberal Democrat minister Steve Webb actually seems to know exactly what he is talking about. He may be alone. See if you can decode his reply this week to a Labour MP who asked about an anomaly in the pension rules:

    “People who have contracted out into an occupational pension currently get money off their state pension, which is called a contracted-out deduction. That will remain part of the single-tier proposition. Therefore, somebody who has contracted out would not get the 414. There is no cliff edge. There would be a deduction for contracting out in both cases.”

He understands it so you don’t have to! Thank heavens!

He understands it so you don’t have to – something some of us have been saying about Steve Webb for many years…

Read more by or more about or .
This entry was posted in Humour.
Advert

5 Comments

  • Richard Dean 17th Mar '13 - 10:31pm

    Is this the new way of avoiding public scrutiny?

  • I think the point is that Webb knows this stuff off the top of his head.

  • What people will realise and understand, however, is that this new higher pension will not apply to existing pensioners, many of whom have paid in for forty years or so.
    There will be a two tier pension system, dress it up as they may and that will be a vote loser, not an attraction for the so called “grey vote.” Wait until the penny drops!

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Hywel
    @paulwalter They will do that anyway. Such Labour attack leaflets rarely have much allegiance that nuanced truth. If you are going to be a liberal party th...
  • Andy Hinton
    I can't think of any good reason why a liberal party worth its salt would make abstaining on a kick-the-marginalised amendment from the Tories a three line whip...
  • Jennie
    Big hugs for CJ And a hearty two fingers to those sacking her and their flimsy crappy reasons for doing so...
  • James
    If this is true, then it seems both a ludicrous over reaction and an indication of how unimportant women and equalities are seen to be. One would hope that not ...
  • Tom King
    I fail to see 1) how voting against a Conservative amendment could possibly be dancing to their tune 2) why it precludes also opposing Labour's bill in its enti...