Soon we will all be paying £1,000 a household for gold plated public sector pensions

Public sector pensions are grossly unfair. At a time when private sector pensions have collapsed, not least because of Gordon Brown’s infamous pensions raid on private pensions, public sector pensions have continued to be unreformed. The coalition was quick to recognise that this must change. And by appointing former Labour Cabinet Minister John Hutton to come up with suggestions for reform, there is a chance of some cross-party agreement in this difficult and sensitive area.

In his recent Centre for Policy Studies report, leading pensions expert Michael Johnson gets a grip on the problem. And, to continue a favourite Coffee House theme, how is it best measured? Many have argued that we should look at the unfunded liabilities; that is the present value of how much taxpayers owe to public sector workers in the form of future pensions. These estimates range from the vast (£770 billion according to the Government Actuary) to the colossal (£993 billion according to pension actuaries Towers Watson).