State pension reform: stirring up a hornet's nest?

It is widely anticipated that a white paper on the introduction of a £140 a week flat-rate state pension will be published in the days following the Autumn Statement, after a series of delays. In September, prime minister David Cameron personally waded into the debate on a universal flat-rate state pension, calling for a rethink to prevent alienating older voters. Despite this intervention, pensions minister Steve Webb has held firm that the government is still going ahead with the flat-rate. But Webb has also hinted the paper will not be the final word on the reform. He has descri...