Pensions Minister, Torsten Bell, has seemingly ruled out the idea of a long-term savings commission as a way of building consensus, suggesting that those who think this is the best approach are "living in la la land" given shifts in the political landscape in Britain.

Speaking at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), Bell acknowledged that "we all welcome the pension commission-like approach, because it worked".

"I understand why people in industry and others will ask for those kind of things because it makes it implies there's some kind of Nirvana available of a political consensus when all the problems go away and the spreadsheet gives you the answer," he stated.

However, he argued that "that world one probably never existed, and it doesn't exist today."

Bell also argued that the stakes now are much higher, warning that the general public is "really fed up", potentially risking undermining faith in mainstream politics if changes aren't seen soon.

"It is not the mid 2000s," he stated. "People like people are not happy. The economy's not being growing well for some time it's affected people's wages. There are food banks all over the country and hospitals are not working and there are potholes on the roads.

"This is not some fluffy 2004 - 'let's have a pension commission and we can all agree' - if you're saying for that, I'm afraid you're showing a naivety about the nature of where British politics and Britain is. The stakes are much higher.

"Our job is to take sometimes difficult decisions to make sure we can start doing the basics again.

"So this whole technocratic notion that we can take the politics out of it. I'm afraid those people are living in la la land".

Instead, Bell argued that clarity of purpose is a better way to build consensus, as people actually see changes implemented.

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