Trevor Kavanagh urges Rishi Sunak to cut 90,000 civil service jobs to avoid trillion-pound pension black hole
Former political editor Trevor Kavanagh has called for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to cut 90,000 jobs from the civil service to avoid a trillion-pound pension black hole.
In an article for The Sun, Kavanagh said that the number of retired civil servants receiving pensions of more than £100,000 annually has doubled in the past year, and that the inflation-linked cast iron benefits are set to leap another seven per cent next April.
He said that the total cost of public sector pensions is now £2.6 trillion, more than the entire UK economy.
“The public sector is a ticking time bomb,” Kavanagh wrote. “The only way to avoid a catastrophe is for the government to take drastic action.”
Kavanagh called for Sunak to axe at least 90,000 civil service jobs and freeze recruitment. He said that the government should also consider scrapping the gold-plated pensions that are currently offered to civil servants.
These pensions are Ponzi schemes, he said, adding that they are unsustainable and will bankrupt the country in the end.
The ABI has urged the government not to change the rules governing gold plated pensions, arguing that they are “essential” to the recruitment and retention of skilled workers in the public service.
The Treasury is currently looking at Defined Benefit pensions (DBs). DBs are often referred to as ‘gold-plated’ because they provide pension savers with a guaranteed income at the end of their working lives, based on their income.
The government has said that it is committed to providing fair and affordable pensions for public sector workers, but that it is also mindful of the need to control costs.
It is unclear what action the government will take in response to Kavanagh’s calls for reform.