manwiththegingerhair: The reality is that the Government has signed up to a package that the country can’t afford. Is it right that cleaners on the minimum wage will be paying for teachers to take early retirement?

vie arenine: This is a hollow victory because teachers don’t live in a vacuum. The country cannot afford to hand out pensions at 60. What this decision has done is create an ever-widening gap between public and private workers. Most folks in the private sector do not have great pensions. It’s a luxury to retire at 60. Teachers need to see how others live. The pension problem is one which is going to affect everyone in the future.

buntycat: We know how other people live. Other people need to see how teachers work - then they would witness at first-hand the reasons for the high stress levels we experience, and why teachers deserve to retire before their dotage on a decent pension.

aur: Thank God for our trade unions. Mr Blair doesn’t fancy a 1926-style strike by essential public-service employees. The country would collapse after 24 hours. Retirement at 60 is what our frontline medical staff, teachers, police officers and armed forces servicemen and women deserve.

Middlemarch: I’ve done 24 years in teaching. When I entered, it was on the understanding that I would be required to work no longer than until the age of 60. On that understanding, I set up investments to enable me to go at 55 (7.5 more years). Had I known it would be 65 before I could start to draw my pension, I would have invested more money. I viewed the notion that the goalposts would suddenly be moved as wickedness. It’s right and proper that the promise made should be kept, and new entrants know exactly what the score is.

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