So bring on a fully-blown battle over public sector pensions. Because of all the excessive government spending that goes on, the huge bill for these gold-plated, index-linked, final salary schemes for state workers is among the most difficult to swallow. For one thing, as the IOD/IEA report makes clear, the disparity between occupational pensions in the public and the private sector is vast – and getting wider all the time. As general pension provision crumbles, only 11pc of private sector workers now enjoy the relative security of contributing to an employer pension scheme that will provide them with a retirement income proportionate to their final salary.