Government U-turn on pension top-ups

Plans announced earlier this year, by the government, to allow stay-at-home mothers to top up their national insurance payments to ensure a full pension have been shelved. News of the political U-turn came when Lord McKenzie, the work and pensions minister in the Lords, told the house that the government has decided to drop the plans.

The original scheme had been intended to help stay-at-home mums who are a large proportion of the 70% of women not entitled to a full state pension because they haven't made sufficient national insurance contributions. Under the scheme, women would be able to make a one-off payment to top up their contributions before they retired.

Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat pensions spokesman, told the Daily Telegraph: 'When the U-turn was announced you could see a wave of revulsion sweep around the House. Gordon Brown should be ashamed of himself for sneaking this out just before Christmas. He must have a heart of stone to do this to millions of women and carers who had had their hopes raised by the Government that they could buy back missing years which stopped them qualifying for a full pension.'

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• Plans to give stay-at-home mums full pension
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