6 DOROTHY Pickering's reply to my letter concerning the state pension exploits a narrow political, historically incorrect view.

What I wished to achieve in my piece was to present an economic and social argument and I used only the bare facts to illustrate it.

Fact one. The first and only attempt to create a situation where the pension was to be tied to changes in the national economic health and wealth was set up by government in the mid 1920s.

Fact two. The "earnings link" component of the system was removed in 1980 and has resulted in the massive loss in buying power.

Fact three. The present Government has no plans to reintroduce the link, although they supported this course of action when in opposition.

If the system as set up had remained unchanged, there would be no need for expensive machinery to administer handouts, means testing and so on. A yearly adjustment would suffice to keep the system operating.

At present, there is a surplus in the state pension fund of some £18bn.

Polls have shown that the condition of the pension is an important issue in the public mind. Indeed, many workers have said that they would be willing to pay extra for a better-funded state pension.

We are certainly not a poor nation. We are, perhaps, the fourth wealthiest state on earth. The trouble lies in the way that wealth is distributed. Restoring the earnings link could help in a modest way in this redistribution.

A J C EVANS,

Callow End

Worcestershire.