EQUITABLE DECISION? HARDLY! - CABLE

10.27.46am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 1st Jul 2003

Commenting on the decision of the Parliamentary Ombudsman not to award compensation to Equitable Life policy holders, Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow DTI Secretary, said:

"This is profoundly disappointing, and raises very worrying questions about what recourse individuals can have in the light of serious failure by Government regulators.

"If the Ombudsman is now saying that Government regulatory incompetence is simply one of the risks individuals have to bear in the preparation of their pensions and other savings, it will deal a very severe blow to the Government's hope of people saving voluntarily for their retirement.

"We still await the Penrose Report into the history of Equitable Life, but it already seems very clear that the Government, in its role as regulator, was inattentive to the point of negligence while Equitable Life mismanaged its affairs throughout the 1980 and 1990s."