THOSE staring into the heart of the pensions black hole will take little comfort from today's report.

The Pensions Commission bleakly outlines our options. The number of pensioners in penury will greatly increase unless we save more, pay more taxes or work longer.

A double dose of political short-termism is partly to blame. Both Chancellor Gordon Brown and his predecessor Nigel Lawson penalised company pension scheme surpluses, caring little for the knock-on effects.

Then there are those much vaunted "market forces". If today's report tells us anything, it is that we should never again be conned into believing the stock market offers guaranteed affluence. Not so long ago, workers were sold a dream: the chance to retire early with money to subsidise travel and leisure.

That dream turned out to be as dodgy as the endowment policies it was founded on. Now they are looking at either retiring with a much-reduced pension or being compelled to work longer - if an ageist job market allows.

Tony Blair is keen to defer the tough decisions on pensions until after the next General Election.

That is not good enough. We need a proper pensions debate, with all the main parties outlining their own costed solutions in their election manifestos. Workers deserve a say on their future prosperity where it matters - at the ballot box.

Updated: 09:32 Tuesday, October 12, 2004