This is a moment to “shake the tree”, says Lord Blunkett
Published: October 16, 2025
The government needs to “shake the tree” and work at speed, according to a former pensions minister.
Speaking at this year’s Pensions UK conference in Manchester, Lord Blunkett – who also served as Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Education – called on the government to “think boldly”.
He said: “This is a moment to shake the tree. This is when people need decisive policies. They want audacity.”
During his talk, Lord Blunkett also addressed the long-term effects of the Covid pandemic, explaining his belief that it had “slowed everything down” and warning that the UK is in danger of becoming an old country.
He said: “But there appear to be a lot of people with young bodies but very old minds – and it slowed everything down. So we’re working, not at pace, but far, far too slowly.
“There’s inertia in the whole system.”
He closed his address by calling on the government to “have confidence” in what they’re trying to do, pull people together and deliver coherence.
He said: “I would say to the Prime Minister, what you’ve been able to do on the international scene on defence and security, on trade, on mastering a brief when it comes to global affairs, what you can do – and you’ve demonstrated you can do – on that international scene, you must do domestically.”
