From Prof James S. MacLeod.

Sir, Stephen Yeo may well be right in saying that the withdrawal of tax credits on dividends was not the cause, or even the main cause, of the damage to pension schemes ("Chancellor cannot take all the blame for pensions debacle", April 2). And, despite Lord Turner's protestations, there was agitation from sectors of industry for the advance corporation tax system to be amended. But I do wonder why the government actuary thought that existing surpluses were sufficient to cushion pension funds from the effect of the withdrawal of the dividend credit.