
Britain is facing a ‘tsunami' of pensioner poverty, says Kendall
At the launch of a major independent commission on the pensions system, the work and pensions secretary said growing numbers would struggle to make ends meet in old age.
'Unless we act, tomorrow's pensioners will be poorer than today's, because people who are saving aren't saving enough for their retirement, and crucially, because almost half of the working age population isn't saving anything for their retirement at all,' she said.
The commission echoes the approach taken by Tony Blair's government to pensions reform in 2002, when an inquiry chaired by Adair Turner led to the system of auto-enrolment.
The commission will be led by a member of Adair's team, Jeannie Drake, with former Barclays UK chair, Sir Ian Cheshire, and the economist Nick Pearce also on board
It will consult the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress, with the aim of building a consensus, which Kendall said she hoped would win the support of opposition parties.
The proposals could include lowering the age at which auto-enrolment into workplace pensions starts – currently 22 – and raising contribution rates, now set at 8%.
It will also look at the idea of 'sidecar savings', which are advocated by the Resolution Foundation thinktank whose former chair, Torsten Bell, is a pensions minister. This approach would allow a set amount of pension savings to be accessed as a rainy-day fund in emergencies.
Kendall confirmed that she was also launching the regular statutory review of the state pensions age. It is set at 66 but is already expected to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
Kendall made clear that the costly triple lock pensions guarantee will not be considered by the commission, which is set to report in 2027. 'The triple lock is out of scope,' she said.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has warned about the much higher than expected costs of the triple lock, which uprates the state pension in line with inflation or wages, or by 2.5%, whichever is higher.
Questioned after her speech at a south London community centre, Kendall acknowledged the role in pensioner poverty of high housing costs after retirement.
'My big worry is, so many young people have not even got a hope in hell of getting on the housing ladder, they're being absolutely killed by their rent, and if you are paying off your mortgage in retirement, or still renting in retirement, that is what is driving this sort of tsunami of pensioner poverty that is coming our way,' she said.
The commission will not be asked to look at housing policy but Kendall pointed to other Labour policies in this area, including boosting housebuilding.
Sign up to Business Today
Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning
after newsletter promotion
Bell, who attended the event, was asked about the prospects for reform of pensions tax relief, with higher rate taxpayers receiving it at 40%.
Cutting this to the basic rate, or reducing the size of the lump sum pensioners can withdraw from their savings pot tax free, have been mooted as money-saving measures in the run-up to the autumn budget.
Bell said: 'Tax changes are not in scope for this review. But the tax system obviously is important, and we have a system of pension tax relief costing around £70bn a year that does provide strong incentives for saving and that's a good thing.'
Business groups gave the launch of the commission a cautious welcome but warned about the risks of piling more costs on employers by raising their contribution rate.
Kate Nicholls, who chairs UK Hospitality and attended the launch, said: 'We've already seen the unintended consequences increasing business costs, like employer national insurance contributions, has had on the employment market, costing jobs. It's therefore crucial the commission embarks on a partnership approach with business and consumer groups to reach the right balance.'
Kendall also alluded in her speech to Labour's U-turn on cuts to disability benefits, insisting the government would continue to advocate change.
She said: 'Reforming the welfare state is never easy, and always contested. Let's be honest, the last few weeks have made that pretty clear – while the path of reform is inevitably bumpy, it cannot be avoided.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Defiant salon owner vows to fight 'aggressive' trademark battle with beauty giant L'Oreal over her nkd brand
A defiant salon owner has vowed to fight an 'aggressive' trademark battle with beauty giant L'Oréal, which she claims forced her to close her shop. Rebecca Dowdeswell, 49, has been locked in a legal dispute with the global cosmetics firm and says she has already spent more than £30,000 defending her position. The mother-of-two, from Nottingham, runs the waxing salon 'nkd', a business she first trademarked in 2009; however, the protection expired after ten years, requiring renewal. Under current rules, companies have a six-month window to reapply for a lapsed trademark, but if they miss the deadline, they must start a new application from scratch. Ms Dowdeswell admitted she had put the renewal 'on the list' but said it wasn't 'at the top', calling the decision 'naive'. Her business was forced to shut during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the following two years proving 'so hard' for those in the beauty sector. By the time she reapplied for the trademark in 2022, she was met with a formal objection from L'Oréal. The French company argued that her brand name 'nkd' could cause 'consumer confusion' with its own 'Naked' eyeshadow range. Rebecca Dowdeswell, 49, has been locked in a legal dispute with the global cosmetics firm and says she has already spent more than £30,000 defending her position But rather than back down, Ms Dowdeswell has launched a counterclaim and is now taking on the £233billion firm herself. An Intellectual Property Office (IPO) hearing has now been scheduled to take place later this year, after the unyielding business owner demanded that L'Oréal withdraw several of its own trademark applications. She said: 'I don't feel like I should have been put in this situation in the first place. 'People typically don't challenge them; I've stuck it out. 'We sort of turned the tables and filed actions against them to rescind some of the trademark. We're spelt differently and pronounced differently, which is a huge part of my frustration. 'The UK beauty market as a whole is a massive market. We're not Naked, we're nkd. We're very tied to just waxing and hair removal products. They can get away with it because they're L'Oréal - this is sheer corporate bullying.' She said she had no choice but to fight for her company, which she has invested so much time in. 'It's a trend that you see - they know they have little chance of winning, but they know their pockets are so much deeper than my own. 'You would probably get 90 per cent of companies walking away. I was put in an impossible situation really. I could either walk away from the brand I spent the last 13 years building up or I could defend this and fight this, and it's cost me a lot. 'It has been a huge drain on the financial side but also the impact on myself and my family has been enormous.' Companies have a six-month window to reapply for their trademark after it runs out, or else they have to submit an entirely new application. She said the pandemic delayed her reinstating the trademark, and she was then left frustrated when her application was objected. She added: 'It cannot be fair or right that small companies such as mine are put in this position. 'And if the huge corporations didn't routinely exploit their power and abuse the rules of the UK IPO, knowing that they will likely get away with it due to their sheer size and domination of the market, then this situation wouldn't arise.' L'Oréal claims the nkd branding infringes on their line of Naked eyeshadows, despite the two being pronounced differently. The giant trademarked the Naked name in 2004 but left it unused until they launched their Urban Decay brand in 2010. Ms Dowdeswell added: 'The Naked name is for a wide range of goods which they aren't using. 'We've said this is against the rules of the UK IPO, companies shouldn't trademark against goods they don't use. 'We applied to remove the trademark on goods they aren't using. Like cotton wool, shower gel, deodorants and shaving foams. 'All they apply it against is a subset of makeup - just eye shadow pallets. 'They don't need the trademark on such a wide range of products, it's like a monopoly. 'They have no intention of using it, that's where the abuse of the rules comes in. 'Just because they're a massive company, no one ever stands up to them. 'They first applied for the Naked trademark in 2004. That's 20 years they've had some of these goods trademarked. 'We're nkd and we launched in 2009 - L'Oréal then launched the Urban Decay brand, which has the Naked line in 2010.' A L'Oréal spokesperson said previously: 'We are wholly committed to resolving any misunderstanding there might have been with Rebecca Dowdeswell. 'From the beginning of our exchanges with her lawyers in 2022, we have communicated an offer that supports her business aspirations whilst respecting our longstanding trademark rights.


The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Admissions jump at Everyman cinema chain despite ‘challenging' backdrop
Cinema chain Everyman has revealed that sales surged by more than a fifth over the past year following a jump in admissions and higher ticket prices. Boss Alex Scrimgeour hailed the performance over the first half of 2025, saying it reflected the 'successful execution' of Everyman's growth strategy. Shares in the company rose in early trading on Monday morning as a result. The company said it is trading in line with its forecasts for the full year, despite a 'challenging economic environment'. It told shareholders on Monday that group revenues rose by 21% to £56.5 million for the half-year to July 3, compared with a year earlier. This was supported by a 15% jump in admissions to 2.2 million for the half-year. It was among cinema groups to have been boosted by major new releases over the period including Thunderbolts, A Minecraft Movie and Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning. The chain said the average price paid for a ticket rose 6% to £12.46, while there was also a 5.9% increase on the amount spent by customers on food and drinks. Everyman currently runs 48 cinemas across the UK, after growing further with the opening of its latest venue in Brentford in March. It plans one further opening this year at The Whiteley in Bayswater next month. The UK's fourth biggest cinema operator said it will open two more venues next year and highlighted a 'strong pipeline' of future developments as it continues with expansion efforts. Mr Scrimgeour, the former Cote restaurant boss, said: 'Our performance in the first half reflects the successful execution of our strategy, with growth across all key metrics and ongoing delivery of our measured expansion programme. 'This is driven by Everyman's unique brand of high-quality, experience-led cinema. 'We look forward to building on this momentum in the second half of the year.' Shares in the company were 6.6% higher in early trading.


The Independent
13 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tasers to be issued to staff in male prisons in government crack down on violence
Tasers are set to be issued to some staff in male prisons as the government attempts to crack down on 'unacceptable' record levels of violence. Specialist officers from the Operational Response and Resilience Unit based in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Doncaster, South Yorkshire, will be the first to become equipped with electric stun guns when the pilot launches on Monday. as she attended the base in Kidlington last week. The trial in England and Wales will run until enough data has been collected to determine if Tasers should be more widely used, according to the Ministry of Justice – but Ms Mahmood said she hoped to have updates in the autumn. The launch comes after rates of assaults on prison staff reached record levels last year, rising by 13 per cent in the 12 months up to December 2024, according to government data. There were also 10,496 assaults on staff in the 12 months to September 2024 – a 23 per cent increase from the previous 12 months and a new peak. Unions welcomed the new trial, but called on the government to address the roots of violence in jail. Last week, officers demonstrated how they would use Tasers on violent inmates in scenarios where there is a significant threat to safety – such as hostage situations or riots. Speaking to reporters at the Kidlington base, Ms Mahmood said: 'I inherited a situation with completely unacceptable levels of violence. I'm not willing to tolerate that. I'm determined to do everything I can to keep prison staff safe. 'They have been asking for Tasers to be allowed to be used in our prison estate for years and years and years, and I'm very pleased to have been able to greenlight this trial.' In April this year, Manchester Arena plotter Hashem Abedi targeted prison staff at HMP Frankland with boiling oil and homemade weapons in a planned ambush. Four prison officers were injured at the jail in Brasside, County Durham, with three taken to hospital. 'The incident of Frankland has really forced the pace on further roll-out of these measures,' Ms Mahmood said. Southport killer Axel Rudakubana also allegedly attacked a prison officer at HMP Belmarsh in May by pouring boiling water over them. Union bosses called for officers to be given stab vests and protective equipment, with Ms Mahmood announcing in June that officers would be told to wear body armour at close supervision centres, separation centres and segregation units in the highest categories of prisons in England and Wales. The trial will use the Taser 7 model, which generates 50,000 volts when fired, with the voltage dropping to 1,500 volts on contact with the skin to incapacitate the target. The T7 model is also a two-shot weapon, enabling officers to shoot a second time in the event they miss their target the first time. The Tasers will be worn by officers on their tactical vest in a secure holster, making the weapon visible to inmates as a deterrent, officers told Ms Mahmood last week. They added that the device also collects data – such as how long it was discharged for – which will contribute to the trial. Officers already have access to batons and Pava spray, a synthetic form of pepper spray, in men's prisons in the public sector. The Ministry of Justice announced in April Pava spray is due to be made available 'in limited circumstances' to a select number of specialist staff at the three public sector young offender institutions – including YOI Werrington, Wetherby and Feltham A. The Taser trial is part of a £40 million package announced last month to boost security across the prison estate, including £10 million specifically for anti-drone measures such as new netting and reinforced windows, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said on Monday. 'Officers will be subject to robust accountability measures, each deployment of a taser will be reviewed,' a spokesperson for the MoJ added. A spokesperson for the Prison Officers' Association (POA) said: 'The POA will always support any initiative that will help protect our members. 'However, as welcome as this initiative is we need to address the reasons why prison officers need Tasers in the first place. 'Violence in our prisons is out of control and apathetic prison managers would rather put the prison regime before the safety of their staff. 'We urgently need action to address overcrowding, understaffing, drugs and the other root causes of prison violence.'