Are public sector pensions more generous than private schemes? Maybe for MPs...

A retirement gravy train after years in the corridors of Whitehall - or a fair reward for years of public service?

- JAMES MOORE

Generous civil service pensions have been attacked by the Taxpayers' Alliance as unsustainable now that public sector wages are catching up with the private sector. It says that, based on the same level of employee pension contributions throughout their working life, a private sector worker would get £7,068 a year in retirement compared to £25,084 for a civil servant, £26,594 for an NHS worker, or £25,694 for a teacher.

This is because large parts of the public sector still offer guaranteed benefits linked to average salary and length of service. Almost all private sector workers now have to put up with “defined contribution” schemes, whose rewards are based on level of savings and investment performance.

“This racket cannot go on,” snarled former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, who called the old-school “defined benefit” schemes “unfair and unreasonable”. But a lot of assumptions are being made by the Taxpayers’ Alliance figures. And MacKenzie’s suggestion – cutting public pensions and letting them go on strike if they don’t like it – is akin to taking a stick of dynamite to your front door instead of paying a locksmith if you’ve forgotten your keys.