As the House of Lords is due to vote on amendments to the Pensions Bills tomorrow, we will witness, yet again, the spectacle of pensioners stripping off to their underpants on Parliament Green, in a last ditch bid to bring their plight to politicians’ attention.

The amendments, which have cross Party support, will ensure that the hopelessly flawed Financial Assistance Scheme pays out benefits on a par with those paid by the Pension Protection Fund.

Crucially, the amendments will also ensure that the payments start as soon as the victims reach scheme pension age, rather than having to wait until their schemes are wound up. In addition, a Lifeboat Fund would be set up to help mitigate the costs to the taxpayer, by using scheme assets and unclaimed financial sector assets that the Government can use for this purpose (if it has the will).

The amendments will then go back to the House of Commons for the Third Reading of the Pensions Bill, which could provide the first big policy test for our new Prime Minister.

Let’s hope that this spells the end of the long and sorry tale of the pension victims, who have fought so long and so hard for justice for their cause and whose valliant leader, Ros Altmann, has done so much to bring their plight to the public’s attention.