And is it true the National Insurance Fund Investment Account is run by the Commissioners For The Reduction of The National Debt? Isn't this a conflict of interest?
It would appear from posts on X by Baron Sikka and Paul Lewis that the answer to the question in the headline is probably "Yes, it has already been 'Looted' or 'Raided'", and it does not bode well for the future:
"National Insurance Fund Account has been looted by the Tories to give last two NIC cuts, mostly to the rich, and NIC holidays in freeports. Labour could reverse that but hasn't and is unlikely to do so"
"Two raids on the National Insurance Fund will reduce the money paid in NI by £18bn in 2024/25. After the first the Gvt Actuary warned that the Fund would spend more than its income- £3.2bn in 2024/25 rising to £8.7bn in 26/27. Its surplus of £84bn will not last forever"
Post by @paullewismoney from March 2024
Nor is it the first time that the National Insurance Fund surplus has been used by governments for other than its intended purpose.
Two articles by investigative journalist @davidhencke give informative background on the management of the National Insurance Fund and are of great relevance to both 50sWomen and all pensioners past, present and future, especially when the "affordability" of State Pensions is questioned:
The Downing Street State Pensions Robbery
The £271bn "Rape" of the National Insurance Fund that Deprived 50sWomen of Their State Pension
David Hencke's work on this topic has been lauded by Lord Rooker in the following glowing terms:
"If the U.K. had a Pulitzer Prize Hencke should get it for his work on the fraudulent NI Fund"
And the National Insurance Fund surplus "Should be independently managed with transparency"
A reminder that CEDAWinLAW holds evidence that the National Insurance Investment account has previously been "in practice, used to reduce the national debt"
As one 50sWoman put it on X:
"Looks like our monies were used to reduce the national debt. Did any fifties women give permission for that? I didn’t"
£181bn has been "saved" at the expense of 50sWomen, through the "equalisation of State Pension Age without consideration of equalities principles" as Hon Dr Jocelynne Scutt put it, and without consultation with those affected, an impact assessment and proper notification
Having paid tax and NICS for anything up to 50 years, 50sWomen feel entitled to know where their contributions have gone and why it appears to be so difficult to pay them the full restitution that is their legal entitlement, under both international and domestic law, according to the CEDAWinLAW Judge's Report
The latest attack on 50sWomen, in the form of the removal of the winter fuel payment for all but those on pension credit, is going to hit many 50sWomen particularly hard yet again. It is just the latest in a long line of discriminatory pensions policy changes that detrimentally impact upon women more than men, contrary to both international law CEDAW and domestic law Equalities Act that are supposed to promote substantive equality, or equality of outcomes as well as of opportunities
Many 50sWomen find themselves amongst the 67% of pensioners already in poverty who are women, but just above the limit for pensions credit, having spent their safety net of savings or used up assets just to survive the enforced 6 year wait for their pensions
So is the current surplus of £84bn in the National Insurance Fund safe in the hands of CRND and the new Labour government? Is the Fund going to be managed with transparency?
It will be interesting to see what the balance is next March 2025 and where the surplus of £84bn has gone
Management of the National Insurance Fund will quite rightly be put under scrutiny
Please sign and share this petition which calls for 50sWomen's legal right to mediation to be upheld, to discuss both discrimination and ongoing maladministration