In sport, the referee’s decision is final. Anyone challenging the man in black risks a caution or an early bath.

In politics, life isn’t that simple. The Government simply move the goalposts, as the victims of collapsed pension funds discovered this week.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, ruled that the Government was guilty of maladministration. Department of Work and Pensions leaflets had misled members of company pensions schemes, leading them to think their pensions were safer than they proved. As a result, Abraham said the Government should compensate 85,000 people who lost their pensions when their companies had gone bust.

The ruling was a huge boost to workers at companies such as Allied Steel & Wire in Cardiff. Over 1,300 people lost their jobs and pensions when the company went under. But Tony Blair rejected the Ombudsman’s ruling. He said the Government should not have to compensate people when private pension schemes fail.

It’s pure hypocrisy. Government ministers are quick to tell private companies what they can and cannot do. They’re instant experts on subjects they’ve never studied. Here’s a quick lesson for Tony. Take a look at the Financial Ombudsman Service. It’s the money industry’s referee. Banks, building societies and insurers agree to accept the ref’s decision, even when privately they think the man in black needs his eyes tested (to borrow an old sporting saying). When are you going to accept the ref’s decision?

We feel desperately sorry for workers who find their pensions snatched from them just before they retire. It’s time to put our hands in our pockets and help them out. It may cost the country a billion or two. But how much has Iraq cost us?