Labour: Pension reforms are yet another calamity
Angela Eagle MP, Labour's shadow chief secretary to the treasury, labels government as 'in chaos' over public sector pensions reform:
"What we are seeing today is the latest calamitous episode of this government’s completely chaotic way of running the country.
"We've seen it on the NHS, we've seen it with welfare, we've seen it with forests and school renovations. Time and time again, David Cameron and his ministers set off on some big new Tory idea and it ends up blowing up in their faces and they are forced into a humiliating retreat.
"Today, Danny Alexander has made an announcement about the retirement age whilst they are in the middle of negotiations with the trade unions. If they are serious about reforming public sector pensions and serious about getting this proposal agreed then Danny Alexander has gone about it in the most incompetent way imaginable.
"If you run a government defined by weekly chaos and botched announcements and you make a habit of not understanding your own policies and caving-in under pressure then you end up in exactly this kind of mess.
"Strikes are always a failure on both sides. Rather than a war of words David Cameron should be getting round the table and talking the issues through and sorting out an agreement.
"Everyone agrees public sector pensions need to change as people live longer. But the government should be getting round the table and talking changes through. Instead we have got another bout of mismanagement and chaos."
