Honor Blackman battling for the Equitable pensioners

By Cassandra Jardine Published: 7:00AM GMT twenty-six February 2010

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Honor Blackman ancillary the Equitable Members Action Group Photo: PA

Liam Byrne had improved watch out. The "forces of hell", that his Darling trainer at the Treasury had to say with, competence appear similar to summer breezes compared to the Fury sitting conflicting me in a Notting Hill caf, plotting revenge. "It would be utterly something to strike the Treasury apportion about," says his nemesis, fluttering carmine finger-nails and flashing a singularly steely span of ice blue eyes.

Government security need not be as well alarmed. Honor Blackman, hold up of those associate victims of Equitable Life whose pensions have dwindled to roughly nothing, binds a brownish-red tanned hide belt in judo. With a guttural giggle that oozes passionate challenge, she says: "I would know where to put a karate chop." But at 83, with a bad behind and tendonitis in one knee, she is doubtful to do majority repairs to the apportion less than half her age or in truth to Sir John Chadwick, the late interest probity decider behaving as eccentric confidant to the Government over the Equitable mess.

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She does, however, meant to give those men a tough time. Blackman is "mad as hell" about the decade of supervision falsity per a allotment for the thousands who have been left all but vacant in their last years. "It sounds similar to we are asking for charity," she fumes, "when we were on purpose defrauded by being sole policies that Equitable knew they couldn"t honour." Why else would she have the autarchic scapegoat of being photographed holding onto a hulk card coupon for �5,000 addressed to a notional Equitable Life sufferer?

Standing outward the Treasury on a soppy day, promotion the total that the Equitable Members Action Group (Emag) feels should be an halt ex-gratia remuneration to the company"s annuitants, has the fun side. But, for the majority glamorous of former Bond girls, used to the full star diagnosis on set, it has been woe too. "I"ve never had such a distressing design in my life," she shudders. "I had to mount in the travel with no correct lighting, and the sleet done my hair go straight."

Scruffy block shenanigans are aversion to a lady whose bathing knows no bounds. When we encounter in the caf, around the dilemma from her fifth-floor flat, her delicately swept-back blonde hair and make-up are undiluted but still not great sufficient for a photograph. She looks impressive person in a tight, metal-studded black polo-neck, suggestive of the catsuits she wore in the 1960s radio array The Avengers.

Despite her age, and lustful speak of her grandchildren, she is still so charming that a man competence have felt utterly gloomy when she proposed to speak about "warm leather" of that some-more later. Danger hovers around her. At any moment, she competence toss the list aside, usually as she did in her days as Avenger Cathy Gale the high-kicking, leather-clad predecessor of Lara Croft and Uma (Kill Bill) Thurman.

"I was the initial womanlike to do her own fights," she points out proudly. "Dear Patrick (McNee, who played her urbane, bowler-hatted conflicting series John Steed) would say, "Don"t do it, you"ll get hurt. Why not usually call a hang around similar to I do?" But the total point was that I was the butch one."

And how. In one part she scarcely killed wrestler Jackie Pallo, who was concussed when she pushed him retrograde in to a grave.

Aggression comes naturally. Her father a shining man, undone by being stranded in a squalid polite use pursuit given of what she calls his "Gor Blimey" cockney accent was given to aroused outbursts. Honor, who took diction lessons that led to her behaving career, admits to being really similar to him. But she learnt early on to channel her intensity in to role-playing, that no disbelief explains because she was expel in The Avengers in 1962 and, dual years later, landed the purpose of the alarmingly charming Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, memorably rolling in the grain with Sean Connery, whom she found the sexist man alive.

In her new purpose as the avenger of the depressed Equitable pensioners, she is following prohibited on the heels of that after Avenger, Joanna Lumley, who last year successfully fought for the Gurkhas" right to solve in the UK. Comparison with St Joanna delights Blackman, though modestly she defers to the alternative woman"s warlike skills in the domestic arena.

"She was fighting for her father"s honour; I was never concerned in campaigning until a couple of months ago as I had regularly fondly hoped to get my income back. And she is far some-more clear than I am. I hatred open vocalization with a passion. I would far rather be at home celebration of the mass a book, or a script, or scheming my subsequent one-woman show, but I am gay to go in to bat for people who can"t bat for themselves."

Blackman is the majority prominent, and glamorous, of the 44,000 Equitable Life annuitants normal age 79 who have nonetheless to embrace any remuneration for the mismanagement of their funds. It is 10 years right away given the insurer slashed payments, carrying run low in to debt by earnest some-more than it could deliver.

Nineteen months ago the Ombudsman reported to Parliament on the countless regulatory failures that led to Equitable"s collapse. Instead of reception action, the Treasury has quibbled over the findings. Meanwhile, each day, on normal fifteen influenced pensioners have been dying, mostly in marked down circumstances.

"These are people the Government should think are wonderful," she says. "We were responsible, prudent, we supposing for the early early retirement so that we wouldn"t be a weight on the state or the families. These people are carrying to sell their houses and live on benefits. But they omit us. Yet if you gambled with your money, and put it in Iceland, you were shortly reimbursed."

This Wednesday she attended a assembly at the House of Commons, along with 93 MPs, together with the Lib Dem Vince Cable, a long-time censor of the Government"s "shameful" doing of Equitable. There Byrne and Chadwick betrothed movement inside of dual weeks of the ultimate inform being published in May usually when a ubiquitous choosing is expected.

"I think they goal they won"t have to understanding with this. But someone will move justice. David Cameron has pronounced that he will sort it out, though I would never opinion for him [Blackman is a lifelong Liberal]. Please God, we get a hung Parliament and someone will have the clarity to put Vince Cable in assign of the economy."

One reason because Equitable Life pensioners competence have been left to debase is the myth that they are abounding people who can means to take the knock. But, she points out, the standard worth of their annunity pots is �47,000 from that particular pensioners have been reception usually �2,200 a year, half what they were promised.

Blackman is one of the couple of who has not found it tough to have ends meet. Since the age of 16, she has worked solidly, with usually dual six-month breaks when she and her second father (actor Maurice Kaufmann) adopted their children, Lottie and Barnaby. "I"m lucky. I can still work in my 70s and 80s, and I can"t fake I don"t love it, though I do infrequently consternation because when a car comes to collect me up at 6am. If I"d had some-more of a grant I competence have thought "Why bother?" about a little jobs but cave was halved, and in dual or 3 years, if I live that long, will be left completely."

Blackman will shortly be seen in Reuniting the Rubins, in that she plays a Holocaust survivor and Tim Spall"s mom "not really expected casting," she laughs. Next, she is off to Budapest to film. Meanwhile, she is operative up an additional one-woman show of prime scenes and songs, together with loyalty to Marlene Dietrich, whom she admires for carrying "the smallest of talent, but extraordinary participation and determination".

The slightest glamorous of her new jobs competence have been, ironically, an announcement for Directgov"s grant scheme, but here she had a pleasing surprise. "Would you hold it, they asked me to wear a black tanned hide catsuit? I told them it would have to be really comfortable leather," she purrs. "After a quarrel in the Avengers my catsuit was regularly really warm."

She seems to be relishing the movement and courtesy so majority that I consternation either alternative Avengers will additionally spin vengeful. Perhaps Diana Rigg will conflict for the indignant patients of Stafford hospital? "I disbelief it. Di has distanced herself from the Avengers. But I am happy to man the guns for Emag, any time."

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