Once upon a time Britain's pension system was admired around the world. Now, it's in tatters and vast numbers of people face the grim choice of enduring a poverty-stricken future or working until they drop. What on earth went wrong? In The Great Pensions Robbery award-winning journalist Alex Brummer ventures into the corridors of power to find out how politicians bent on penny-pinching, a civil service cowed into submission and individuals more interested in their careers than public service have all taken a part in fatally undermining a 100-year-old system. It's also a story of breathtaking hypocrisy, where those in charge have feather-bedded their own pensions while destroying those of ordinary people. And, as Brummer convincingly argues, we're only just starting to live with the appalling consequences.

Author Biography

Alex Brummer is one of the UK's leading financial journalists and commentators. After a long and successful stint at the Guardian he moved to be City Editor at the Daily Mail in 2000. He has won prizes both as a foreign correspondent and economics writer. Awards received include Business Journalist of the Year 2006, Newspaper Journalist 2002 and Best City Journalist 2000. His books include Hanson: A Biography (Fourth Estate, 1994), Weinstock: The Life and Times of Britain's Premier Industrialist (HarperCollins, 1998) and The Crunch (Random House, 2008).