Hats off to Christine Farnish, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds, for her call on Friday for companies to be allowed to renege on their pension promises – but did she have to be so public about it?

Leaking her speech to the Financial Times, which gave it front-page treatment, is the last thing pension providers need. If word gets around that employers are asking for what Alan Pickering, another pensions luminary, recently called “a one-off opportunity to renegotiate the past”, won’t everyone start demanding one?