PERHAPS I can clarify why Gillian Eccles should pay more into her NHS pension and get less: 1. Like many public sector jobs, the NHS pension is unfunded, ie, there is no pension pot 2. The Government has no money 3. Money in the UK is created by the private sector and distributed by means of salaries, profit, bank interest, taxation etc.

4. The Government obtains money by means of taxation of the general population and UK companies. In 1997 Gordon Brown came up with a novel idea — “raid the private pensions of the UK by taking £5 billion a year out of their pension pots”

5. NHS pensions are paid for by the Government out of taxation 6. My money, including the money robbed from my pension fund by the last government, is paying for Gillian Eccles’ generous, inflation-proofed, retirement at 60.

The UK cannot afford such final salary schemes and I feel I speak for many when I say I have absolutely no sympathy with those who protest. I would hope my explanation clarifies things for Ms Eccles and others who share her naïve views.

“Realist”

Ashington Drive Bury