Pensioners have lost one of their fiercest advocates

The former Labour MP for Birkenhead previously served as chairman of the social security select committee from 1990 to 1997 and minister for welfare reform.

He fell out with the then early Blair government over pension proposals, and then in 1999 he was involved in setting up the Pensions Reform Group, aimed at abolishing pensioner poverty.

Political fairness

In 2015 he was elected as chairperson of the Work and Pensions select committee and was a strong critic of the way in which the Conservative government was shoehorning pension reforms through the legislature.

As reported at the time, he said: "The committee is very disappointed with the government’s response to the report produced by our predecessors on auto-enrolment.

“The government has had more than two months since the election to pull together a full response, and has failed miserably to do so."

His spirit was always in the interests of protecting ordinary men and women

In 2016, he grilled disgraced retail tycoon Philip Green over the collapse of the BHS pension scheme, stating: "He doesn’t only have to satisfy The Pensions Regulator; today he is before the bar of public opinion. Much of his reputation now depends on how generously he responds."

Field also supported a bill through Parliament in 2016 to strip Green of his knighthood, although the vote was purely symbolic.

In 2016, Field threw his support behind the Waspi women's campaign, claiming they had been "strung along for too long", and recommended proposals by the Labour government at the time as a "practical, possible way forward", as he reiterated at a 2017 conference.

British Steel

But in 2017 he also turned his attention to thousands of British steelworkers, who had been lured out of their gold-plated defined benefit pensions. 

Speaking to FT Adviser in 2019, he turned his ire on the regulators for failing to act, as well as on the "scammers" who took advantage of the men and women who had been targeted. 

He said: "British steelworkers were roundly failed by the official regulators meant to protect their life savings.  

"They were given precious little to guide them through murky waters filled with scammers looking to snatch their pensions – scammers who had little to fear from the FCA’s grossly inadequate action at the time.

"Now it seems they are being sold short again on what even the FCA calls 'rightly' deserved compensation."

Even when he started to be in poor health, he continued with his campaigning stance. 

In 2022, together with Baroness Ros Altmann, Field - who received his Knighthood in the 2022 New Years Honours List - was pushing the government to act to protect Britons suffering as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.

He called the energy crisis that unfolded as a result of Russia's illegal war on Ukraine as "a Dunkirk moment", and lambasted the government - which at the time was too busy trying to choose between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak - for failing to act. 

Commonwealth and country

Field was kind enough to comment for FT Adviser on the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II, urging the government to pull together to protect the values of the Commonwealth, which he saw being eroded.

He told FT Adviser: "While The Queen's death is an unmeasurable loss for this country, it is likewise a similar loss for the Commonwealth.

"That the Commonwealth has not lived up to the role she desired for it is our loss, not hers. At this time it is very important for the role of the Commonwealth not to fall out of politics now it has lost its chief champion.

"For it to gain a renewed interest would be an appropriate tribute to her."

Field may well have been a thorn in the side of regulators and legislators alike, but his spirit was always in the interests of protecting ordinary men and women and securing their financial safety nets in retirement. 

British steelworkers were roundly failed by the official regulatorsFrank Field

Even in his later years, he was ready and willing to give considered, measurable responses to journalists and to trade titles such as FT Adviser.

Often he would take my calls or respond to emails even outside of normal working hours, when the occasion called for it, for which I shall always be grateful.

At a time when it seems the interests of the many (the voting public) are overlooked in favour of the interests of the few (who sit on green benches), the loss of someone like Field will undoubtedly be felt keenly.

Few people have understood the intersectionality of economics, politics and pensions quite like Field, and one can only wonder from whence the new champion of the people's pensions will arise. 

At least one can hope for such a champion, although I suspect he might have been the last of his kind.

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com