by Simon Bottery, Director of Fundraising, Policy and
Communications
So now we know the solution to the mystery of Iain Duncan Smith's
missing speech. He shelved the announcement of a flat rate pension
at the Age UK conference because he didn't want to/was not allowed
to steal the Chancellor's Budget thunder.
Except that the sound turned out to be not so much thunder as the
vague echo of music we've already heard. Once again the government
said little beyond the fact that it was considering the options,
adding that any scheme would not apply to current pensioners. The
figure of £140 was quoted again but without any clue as to whether
this was at today's prices or some future date. So what on earth is
going on? I don't pretend to know, but on this evidence you can
expect the next installment to come not in any official way but as
an unattributable briefing to a Sunday paper. Government by spin,
anybody?
