Hendry attacks Chancellor over pensions

In 1997 Gordon Brown abolished tax credits on dividends, costing occupational pension schemes an estimated 5bn every year.

In the long-term it is estimated this will reduce the value of pension funds by 100bn.

Commenting after the release of papers which show that the Chancellor was made fully aware of the consequences of the tax changes he was making, Mr Hendry said: 'The Chancellor has extracted one stealth tax too many from the British public and now he has been caught red handed. He has robbed pensioners of 100bn and hasn't even the courage to stand up and admit he was wrong.

'In 1997 Gordon Brown promised that pensioners would not lose out, claiming assertions to that effect were 'nonsense.'

'To date, 60,000 occupational pension schemes have been wound up or are in the process of doing so and around 125,000 people have totally lost their pension due to insolvency of the sponsoring employer.'

He added: 'This is the man who wants to be our next Prime Minister. Overseeing such a cataclysmic decline in the welfare of our pensioners demonstrates that he is not fit for the top job.'