Pensions poser

Yet, while David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg have talked tough on pensions ahead of tomorrow's Budget, there will be disappointment that they, too, have decided to create yet another commission.

In some respects, it was politically astute to ask the newly-appointed peer John Hutton to perform this role – the former Labour minister actually held the work and pensions brief for 18 months and a cross-party consensus is essential.

However, Mr Hutton's own tenureship of the pensions brief is symptomatic of why this issue was allowed to get out of hand as Labour expanded the state to unsustainable levels. Since the 2001 election, there have been nine – yes, nine – Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith being the latest postholder. How can any politician be expected to get a grip of this complex, but vitally important, issue when there is such a turnover of Ministers?

Foreign Secretaries and Chancellors of the Exchequer are not treated with such contempt – they are, generally, allowed to stay in the job. Why should the pensions brief be any different? George Osborne, the Chancellor, made clear yesterday that Lord Hutton will be expected to come up with some "early steps" by September, and longer-term reforms by next year's Budget. It can only be hoped that Mr Osborne is true to his word, and that this is not another gimmick driven by expediency.