Britain’s largest trade union, Unite, has today slammed government plans to fund the state pension through the reduction of state benefits for average earners, arguing that it should be financed through progressive taxation instead.

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said that the government has given “no indication that there is more money available for the state pension. This means for every winner there will be a loser”.

By raising money through the method that the government has proposed, Cartmail said that the new system could erode the quality of current pension schemes as “employers will seek to claw back costs to offset the higher national insurance levels for employers in contracted-out DB pension schemes, and higher national insurance for employers as well”.

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