It’s not often you see the Trades Union Congress in agreement with Margaret Thatcher’s think tank. It could be the first step in a new political consensus on pensions – one that could help shore up George Osborne’s revolutionary reforms, due to be introduced this April.

The key idea proposed today by Michael Johnson of the Centre for Policy Studies - the think tank founded by Thatcher and her key ally, Keith Joseph, in 1974 - is appealing in its simplicity. Politicians should take note when writing their election manifestos this year.