Remember, its not just pensions they have hit, it is also the life insurance endowment funds. These are now badly performing and in many cases will fail to pay out the original (minimum) project returns. Brown did not care about the damage he was doing to long-term savings plans (pensions/endowments). Its this sort of behavior which has undermined people's desire to save and fosters dependency on the state - so much for enlightened New Labour

Hugh, Cotswolds, UK

This clearly marks Brown as unfit to be Prime Minister and exposes some of his appalling legacy as Chancellor.Plenty more to come on that I fear.
What is less obvious for now, but in some ways even more indefensible, is how MP's and other public sector pensions are being protected at the taxpayers expense as private sector pensions are being decimated by Brown's incompetence.

Michael Riding, Surbiton, UK

Burke and Hare snatched bodies. Brown and Blair snatched pensions and 'sold' the UK for dismembering. They have been an absolute disaster.

Lee, London,

I wrote to Brown just before the raid on pensions refering to the way in which his "young" advisors at the Treasury were attacking the existing "wealthy" pensioners pointing out the declining standard of living to which all pensioners are doomed. I hope he gets the "boot" !

dennis, Leicester, UK

He has spent the budget surplus he inherited, he has spent the taxes of 2million new immigrants, he has raised over 100 taxes and still needed to borrow 35 billions a year, and now it is finally admitted that he has spent the pensions of millions of "hard working families". Big brain? I don't think so! Well read? Possibly but he can have understood none of it.

It's nice to see the views consigned to the letters pages for the last decade reaching page 1, Brown is, as I have long held, either a fool or plain wicked.

edward green, Upminster, England

At last Gordon Brown is exposed for what he is. I never thought his boastful stewardship of the economy was as good as he said it is. But I thought that his raid on pensions could take more years to expose than it has done. I am glad his chickens have come home to roost while he is still Chancellor.

Howard, Chester,

Well well ... I have no sympathy for these poor deluded fools who voted the Labour Party into office (unlike me). Thanks a lot - your stupidity in trusting the utopian promises of Labour politicians has all cost us dear. And they've snarled us up in two nasty wars which we've no chance of winning because they've also raided the Armed Forces war chests to squander billions on the unreformed NHS!! Reap your belief in the failed socialist ideology of spend, spend, spend and meddle, meddle, meddle!

M Graham, Penang, Malaysia

Mrs Johnson from Ayr with her £120 pw pension has undoubtedly earned it having worked all her life but what of others I know who have not, who have made no NI contributions (not because of disability or illness), who actually receive somewhat more than Mrs Johnson due to Gordon's generous rewards to the non-working section of the population? Many independent-of-the-state pensioners have to sell their homes and move away in order to survive. Mr Brown would no doubt consider this yet another fair method of obtaining redistribution and levelling down ........

jane, washington, usa

Chickens are coming home to roost here;don't forget that any of the other contenders will have known about this disgraceful action.There should be a vote of no confidence tabled against this gang of robber barons.

Michael Rigby, Chorley Lancashire, England

Who gave our government permission to dispose of our pension
money like this?Who gave them permission to give themselves a
66% pay rise when we get virtually nothing as well as thsi £10,000
bonus?
Why are nt they required to sign written contracts of employment as
we are?
These people are no better than paid and legal extortionists.
Lets get rid of them now.We dont need any government that does
give all it can to the people.We dont want dictators in this country nor
'spin a web of lies' people either..

adrian dolwe, worcester, uk

What a bunch of moaners! A bit one-sided, isn't it? Something to do, I think, with The Times puffing its own scoop. If you want to publish a more balanced report, please note that I am quite satisfied with my modest occupational pension.

Andrew May, Wimbledon, UK

The Times deserves a medal for breaking this story! Anyone with a private pension who votes Labour at the next election will deserve all they get - or rather won't get.
Brown must now be desperate so here's an idea for him; it might just work. Introduce immediate legislation to move all public sector employees - including MP's - to the exactly the same private pension system the rest of us poor idiots have to get by on!

john goodman, Ashford,

Keith Green said above that you are not going to have enough to live on unless you are in the higher echelons of a big corporation. He forgot that you are also allright if you are in the public sector ....apart from your £1 trillion pension fund being empty, (Their pensions are paid out of new taxation.)

Brian Gilbert, HAMPTON, Middx

I don't think for one second that Brown did not know the full impact his policy would have .However if we believe that he only agreed to it as a result of advice from the Civil Service , why did he not reverse the decision when the full extent of the problem became known ?.
This Government and in particular Mr Brown is in danger of bringing the word " disingenuous " into disrepute .
Is anyone ever in this Government going to stand up and take responsibility for decisions ? I think not !!

Bennett Stevens, Penzance , England

at last, a proper and public debate on a financial scandal that will dwarf any other.

the calculated demise of the much envied final salary pension scheme and other long term consequences for the pensions industry and pensioners are travesties, as are the feeble excuses now coming out of the treasury.

the two year reluctancy to provide the information, the edited black outs in the documents and the sad briefing note provided with it (blaming all but themselves) says it all. many thanks to the times for persisiting with this battle.

e raben, london,

I worry about this man. And he wants to be the next prime-minister?

Mark R, coventry, uk