BBC BLOGS - West Country Cash « Previous | Main | Next »  'Scrap
public pensions,' says pensions guru  Dave Harvey | 09:50 UK
time, Wednesday, 8 September 2010  It was the battle Mrs
Thatcher ducked.  "Leave it for another government," the former
PM was reported to murmur, when presented with a civil service
dossier marked "Public Sector Pensions."  The Iron Lady, famed
for relishing a fight with miners or Argentinians, flinched when
it came to dinner ladies' nest eggs.  Mark Dampier, Head of
Research at Hargreaves Lansdown in Bristol  Well, now a man has
picked up the dossier she dared not open. A man respected
throughout the City of London for his financial savvy. As it
happens, a rather affable man who doesn't usually go looking for
trouble.  "I'm afraid my unpopular measure is simply, we must
stop public pensions now, and replace them with private pension
plans."  Mark Dampier is Head of Research for Hargreaves
Lansdown, the massively successful investment brokers based in
Bristol. The firm recently repor