'90 per cent of people don't trust Labour with their pension', claims Friends Provident

The paltry size of state pensions and the collapse of company schemes have contributed to the loss of confidence.

In a further blow, just 5 per cent of those questioned by the investment firm Friends Provident said they would trust Gordon Brown to be in charge of their pension fund.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown: His 'tax-grab' on pensions in 1997 is said to be a big contributor to public distrust in state pensions

The findings are an embarrassment for a Government which has regularly boasted about its impressive economic record.

Of the 2,083 people interviewed by researchers, nearly 90 per cent of those who had not retired criticised the size of the state pension.

This went up by just £3.40 to £90.70 this year - a tiny increase at a time when pensioners face huge rises in their household bills.

Dr Ros Altmann, a former pensions adviser to Number Ten, said: 'Our state pension is a national disgrace. It is the lowest in the developed world. We cannot continue to treat old people in this way.'

It was the Prime Minister's controversial 'tax grab' on pensions as Chancellor in 1997 which has fuelled much of the public fury.

He scrapped the tax relief on dividends paid into pension funds just a few weeks after Labour came to power.

The Tories have described the move as one of the 'great scandals of the last decade' and experts say it has cost pension savers at least £100billion.

Jeremy Ward of Friends Provident said: 'Many people want to see greater commitment to state pensions with a larger and fairer state pension proving most popular.'