The Prime Minister: The scale of the Maxwell Crisis and the large number of parties involved justified the exceptional action taken at that time by the Government.

The scale of the Maxwell Crisis and the large number of parties involved justified the exceptional action taken at that time by the Government.

I lived through the Maxwell Crisis, so hon. Members should believe me when I say that there are those who still suffer psychologically and financially as a result of what happened.

In his letter of 10 March, the Minister stated:The sheer scale of the Maxwell Crisis and the large number of parties involved, including four different sets of scheme trustees, justified the exceptional action taken by the Government in establishing the Maxwell Pensions Unit and the Maxwell Pensioners Trust and it is not a model we consider suitable for general application.

The hon. Gentleman refers to my letters to him, in which I have referred to the scale of the Maxwell Crisis.

One of the major results of the Maxwell Crisis was the setting up of the pension law review committee, which led directly to the Pensions Bill.

I have to say to him that when the Maxwell Crisis was sorted out -[Interruption.

I have had the deepest respect for the right hon. Gentleman for all the years I have been here - he handled the Maxwell Crisis in an unparalleled manner.

Because of the need to provide absolute, copper-bottomed certainty in the wake of the Maxwell Crisis, the actuarial profession got around to finding the safest possible way of discounting future liabilities.