UNLOCK OUR PENSIONS

the political parties lambasted Mr Kirby for the annuity betrayal in a heated debate in the Commons on October 19, 2016 — the day after he announced the U-turn.

The then-minister, who has since lost his seat in Parliament, responded by promising that the Government would ‘be considering . . . all we can do to help’ savers stuck with tiny incomes that are of little use to them.

Stephen McPartland, Tory MP for Stevenage, asked: ‘What will [the minister] and the Treasury be able to do to ensure that pensioners on very low incomes who are trapped in difficult annuities can escape those punishing regimes?’

Mr Kirby replied: ‘The Treasury will be considering this very carefully, but my honourable friend will have to wait until the Autumn Statement to hear how we are best placed to deal with this.’

He was then asked by David Nuttall, then Tory MP for Bury North, whether he would ‘at least look at passing legislation’ to help savers. Mr Kirby replied: ‘That is certainly something we will be looking at.’

In a question to Chancellor Philip Hammond this year, Craig Mackinlay, Tory MP for South Thanet, asked if anything had been done about this. John Glen, the current Economic Secretary, replied: ‘There are no plans to review the decision not to continue with proposals for a secondary market in annuities at this time.’

Today, Money Mail calls on readers to write to the Chancellor demanding that he takes action: cut out and send the letter printed right to Westminster. This could have a major impact, as most major insurers have refused to act until they are given instructions by the Government and the City regulator.