Speeches by Whately.

“The Minister has also introduced an amendment to limit the Government to only exercising the mandation power once, giving them just one opportunity to set the asset-allocation requirement. I recognise that that gives more certainty to industry, as there is less risk of moving goal posts. He has also updated from last w…”

“This week we have seen a flurry of concessions. There have been revisions to the sunset clause. First, the date when the mandation power lapses, if it has not been used, is being brought forward from 2035 to 2032. Secondly, the entire regime will be repealed at the end of 2035. So, as drafted, the mandation threat will…”

“Now to the question of scale, the Bill assumes that if schemes offer a strong proposition and good member outcomes, there is nothing to stop them growing. We disagree; it is not that simple. For instance, it is exceptionally difficult to win new business in today’s market without already being an incumbent or large ins…”

“I do appreciate the Minister’s attempt to offer an olive branch on mandation—several olive branches, in fact. Last week an amendment was tabled to constrain his originally unlimited and undefined mandation power that would have meant he could direct up to 100% of default pension fund savings to be invested in assets of…”

“The Minister may be planning to say in his wrap-up that the Government already intervene and that there are all manner of regulations shaping trustee behaviour, and of course there are, but there is a fundamental difference: regulation protects the process; mandation dictates the outcomes. That is the line that this Bi…”

“Mandation will not guarantee better returns, contrary to what the Minister continues to claim. It may force trustees to take decisions that are not in savers’ best interests—decisions driven not by judgment or duty but by direction. When fiduciary judgment is replaced with political instruction in this way, it does not…”

“Today we have also heard the Minister reach for one last defence—and strangely late in the day. He claimed that mandation was in the Labour party manifesto. It was not. There is no mention of mandation, no reference to a reserve power, no suggestion of asset-allocation powers of this kind. The Labour manifesto did talk…”

“The truth is that parts of the solution to this problem are in the Bill. The pensions dashboard will give savers visibility and, with it, agency. The value for money framework will help employers choose schemes that they can justify to their employees on the basis of returns, not just fees. Those are ways to tackle the…”

““I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.””

“Size alone does not equal success. Take football clubs as an example: a larger club may have greater resources, a bigger stadium, more expensive players and larger crowds, but none of that guarantees results on the pitch. I am told that one need look no further than Tottenham Hotspur to see that. We welcome the Governm…”

“As I think the right hon. Gentleman will have heard in my speech, there is widespread agreement that we want to see more investment by pension funds in the UK; the debate is about whether mandation is the way to achieve that. Actually the Minister’s main argument for the mandation powers is not about investment in the …”

“On the ABI report that he referred to—he has referred to it before—yes, the ABI has agreed with the diagnosis of the problem, as I set out, as a collective action problem. However, it does not agree with mandation as the remedy. The Minister needs to be clear about that.”

“Secondly, the Minister has said that this is merely a reserve power—and one that the Government have no intention of using. But a reserve power does not sit harmlessly on the shelf. It shapes behaviour, and I think, in truth, the Minister accepts that. He has said as much to me before—that the power will achieve its en…”

“What a difference a week makes. When the hon. Gentleman rose to conclude our debate last Wednesday, he delivered from the Dispatch Box what I can only describe as a tirade. Serious and considered concerns—not just from me and my hon. Friends, but from noble Lords and many respected people across the industry—were met w…”

“Unfortunately, that is where our agreement ends, and I suspect the Minister knows that, so let us turn directly to the elephant in the room: mandation. The Minister has advanced a number of arguments in its defence, and I will address them in turn. First, he said that this is a natural extension of the Mansion House ag…”

“This is an extraordinary hill for the Minister to choose to die on. Mandation was never put to voters, it never had the backing of industry, and it should not be forced through Parliament now. I urge the Minister to think again.”

“That leads us to the Minister’s central claim that mandation is necessary to solve a collective action problem—that while the sector recognises the case for higher return investments, no individual scheme is willing to move first. Now, that is a serious argument, but mandation is the wrong conclusion. He says that indu…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The last Division we voted on was on a motion proposed by the Government that grouped a series of amendments with which we agreed, alongside amendments on mandation, with which we had strong disagreements. What steps can be taken to bring about a separate Division on the manda…”

“The review amendment is also welcome. It introduces a post-legislative reporting requirement on scale, which will allow this House to hold the Government to account for the real-world impact of these reforms.”

“My hon. Friend is exactly right. Sometimes the Pensions Minister talks about this all as being technicalities, but the fact is that the Government are coming after people’s hard-earned savings, and the public can see it. The Government think it is a pension pot they can mess with. We know that it is people’s own saving…”