Two major forces COUP has a ‘voice’ on the national stage through its membership of two organisations whose influence is recognised by both the government and all political parties. The National Pensioners' Convention (NPC) is running a high profile campaign for the improvement of State pension benefits. This has led to all the main political parties promising to index the State pension in line with average earnings rather than the RPI. Recently, the Occupational Pensioners’ Alliance (OPA) has been concerned with protecting occupational pensions against another of the attempts of employers’ representatives mentioned earlier to undermine long recognised benefits. For instance, they were instrumental in defeating moves to limit pension increases in line with inflation “when the fund and the employer can afford to do so”. Just think of the loopholes that would have opened!