The government is facing up to some difficult realities:
1. A long legacy of unsustainable pension promises.
2. It's problematic to go back on any part of your predecessors' pie-in-the-sky promises or implied promises (today's strikes).
3. And it's politically impossible to touch today's pensioners - the ones who are getting a far better deal than we can afford.
It's an ugly stealth move, but its net effect may be to rebalance the system a little and improve generational fairness.
