The Green Party released its manifesto on Tuesday which included a number of proposals for the UK pensions systems.
Most of these relate to the state side of the pension and care system – for example, including pensioners in the proposed universal basic income system at the higher rate of £178 per week, and the provision of taxpayer funded personal social care for those who require it, mirroring the current Scottish system.
What is likely to raise the eyebrows of employers and trustees involved in the running of workplace pension schemes is the pledge to require that LGPS Funds (and other public bodies) divest their pension funds from the various fossil fuel industries. This will be followed by 'encouragement' for private pensions to adopt the same course of action. This would represent another step towards the use of pension funds as (to paraphrase the current pensions minister) "weapons" in the battle against climate change rather than vehicles for providing retirement incomes to their members.
