We are in a right pickle over pensions in the UK.

The poor state of UK public finances apparently dictates a rise in the state pension age from 65 to perhaps 70. Yet at the same time companies can forcibly retire someone
at 65. So what are we going to do with the five year gap?
Contributing to pensions seems unnecessarily expensive and uncertain. Private pensions get hit by charges, which offsets the tax relief, while state pensions get hit by the government moving the goal posts.
We also won't be able to pay the goldplated pensions of council employees, members of parliament etc. The recent volatility of equities has shown that we can't rely on
share performance to pay on all types of pension promises.

Personal accounts delayed four years to 2016.

The latest big idea in the British pension mess, personal accounts, are to be delayed
four years to 2016. A total of 8 pct of pay will be contributed by employees (4 percentage points), employers (3 percentage points) and the government with 1 percentage point. However, Moira O'Neill of the Investors Chronicle quotes pensions expert Dr. Ros Altmann, who wonders what pension income will be achieved. Current forecasts are too optimistic given worsening annuity rates.
I think one concern is that pension income could be heavily taxed in the future to pay for the demographic bulge of old people. The state pension age could be lifted quite quickly to 70 in order to save money. It would be interesting to see what people would live on. I suppose the complexity over pensions could be reduced.

Tories should not axe FSA - Xavier Rolet.

Money Marketing cites a speech by the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange,
Xavier Rolet, that the Conservatives should not axe the UK regulator Financial Services Authority (FSA). Speaking at a fringe meeting of the Tory conference in Manchester, Rolet said the regulatory system in Britain had to be similar to that in Europe and in the United States otherwise it would make joint action on financial crises harder. The power of the FSA should not be fragmented over many different entities.
The Tories have said that they will scrap the FSA if they win next year's general election. The regulatory body has been given a bad press over its efforts to regulate the financial industry ranging from one person IFAs to major banks. The FSA's role in a tripartite system involving the Bank of England and the Treasury has been questioned. The Tories want a bigger regulatory role for the central bank.
Personally, I would try and reform the banks first and make them easier to regulate.