"The Pensions Commission is due to report at the end of November so this is an excellent time to discuss all the issues that affect pensioners today. The National Pensioners Convention is pressing for a new Pensioners Charter. This provides a real challenge to all political parties. Many of the things they are calling for are things I fully support. And in Scotland it is Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Executive who are delivering free personal care and free public transport. I shall be listening carefully to all the proposals brought forward by local pensioners.
"It is disappointing that eight years into a Labour administration pensioners feel so let down that they have to come all the way to Parliament to make their point. It is about time that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown started to listen to pensioners so that they are given the dignity and security they deserve in retirement."