The Lib Dem Minister’s Lamborghini defence of Osborne’s pensions plan was a reminder of his contribution to the Coalition.
It seems George Osborne has been paying attention to our Homes, Jobs and Savings campaign.
The sweeping breadth of reform being championed by Conservative MPs is now so commonplace that it is hardly remarked upon in the newspapers.
From November 2018, the state pension age should be increased two months every quarter.
This view is based upon cashflow, not nebulous concepts such as funding ratios, But the operational inefficiency of the scheme could be addressed in three simple steps.
And much of the £54 billion used to encourage saving is taken by the pensions industry
The average pension pot in the UK will generate just £1,300 of income per year in retirement.
£21 million was spent on winter fuel payments for Britons living abroad, including in countries such as Spain, last year. That’s a 64 per cent increase on the previous year.
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. The formidable Conservative backbench support for transferable tax allowances shows how crucial marriage is to Tory thinking about social policy. It's often accompanied by a preoccupation with the position of one-earner couples within the tax and benefit system, and a certain sympathy for universalism and hostility to means-testing: hence […]
We don’t normally start ToryDiary posts by highlighting the words of a Labour frontbencher. That stuff’s generally reserved for LeftWatch. But there was a fairly striking moment in Harriet Harman’s Today Programme interview earlier – and it probably caught the ears of No.10, too. It was her admission that Labour will review their policy on pensioner benefits ahead of the […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter George Osborne is getting a very similar message from his Conservative and Liberal Democrat colleagues: Lift the ringfences. Liberal Democrats are telling the Chancellor that they won't accept further cuts to welfare if he isn't willing to cut richer pensioners' benefits and, potentially, also "gently trim" the budgets for […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter "From April this year, no one will have to sell their home to fund care. Those unable to afford fees will get the right to defer paying." That's the Coalition's big promise to the elderly as made in today's Sun and across the Sunday newspapers. Proving that the Coalition […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Not so long ago, people were both more free and more orderly. For example, there were no race relations laws: you could say what you liked about ethnic minorities (as they usually weren't called then). The English always drank: "He gives your Hollander a vomit ere the next pottle […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. 1pm update: On the Andrew Marr programme this morning, George Osborne said: "I’m very clear going forward we’ve got to deal with this deficit, it is going to take longer – that means more difficult decisions and it’s got to be done fairly, and that means yes, the richest […]
The Government needs to build on the Chancellor’s budget announcement with a new digital advice service – and restructured tax relief.