Taxpayers to foot the bill for BT pensions deficit and NHS overspend after Government caves in ?

But you missed this bit:-

"The Crown Guarantee will only be triggered in the unlikely event that BT is declared insolvent and its pension scheme wound up."

It is important to read the whole article.

But isn't that a possible consequence of not being able to afford to pay their pensions bill?

I can't see how the BT pension fund failing to meet its pensions bill makes BT insolvent.

It's deficit is *relatively* small at £2.1 billion at present but who knows what the future will bring ? How many other companies have the safety net of such a guarantee from the taxpayer ?

This state guarantee is already having unforeseen consequences ........

"...The existence of the guarantee - details of which only emerged earlier this month - could reduce the amount of money that BT has to make into the new Pension Protection Fund.

Under new rules, all the UK's top firms are required to pay into a government-backed fund designed to protect employee pensions in the event of company failure.

Individual company payments are currently being worked out but the guarantee means that BT's liabilities could be viewed as less high risk and thus reduce its payments.... "

Probably anything that was privatised.

Quite why the safety net has only just come to light is perhaps more worrying.