Letters to the Editor – 24/01 – EU green targets, Compulsory saving, Best of Twitter
EU green targets
[Re: Industry welcomes EU green targets for 2030, yesterday]
It is incorrect to suggest that all businesses welcome the new targets. While it is promising to see the EU placing climate change and competitiveness side by side, it’s clear that others in Europe have little appetite to match the UK’s binding 50 per cent target. As a result, the government must review the fourth carbon budget to ensure the UK is in line with Europe, sending a clear signal that it is committed to ensuring the UK remains a competitive place to invest.
Gareth Stace, head of climate and environment policy, EEF
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Compulsory saving
[Re: Brits told: Save six times more for your pension or face poverty, Tuesday]
It’s not clear that a compulsory savings scheme would help to solve the pensions crisis in the UK. Aside from philosophical issues as to whether the government should be able to mandate what individuals do with their money, there are practical problems to address. In Australia, which introduced such a scheme in 1992, savings were paid out in a lump sum on retirement. But many just accumulated debts throughout their adult lives (anticipating the retirement payout), and ended up no better off in net terms.
Gerald Patterson
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BEST OF TWITTER
By 2020, the E7 (Brics, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey) on pace to have greater share of world GDP than G7.
@ianbremmer
40 per cent between 22 and state pension age won’t save enough for retirement. That’s 11m people.
@Policy_Exchange
Independent statistics show crime is falling again. It’s down over 10 per cent under this government.
@David_Cameron
Lift-off in Eurozone periphery: PMI showed strongest growth since February 2011 outside France, Germany.
@WilliamsonChris