Labour to reverse ‘tax cut for the rich’ pension reform if it wins the next election
Labour has pledged to reverse plans to abolish the lifetime pensions allowance if it wins power, calling it “a Tory tax cut for the rich”.
The party released analysis saying the policy proposed in Jeremy Hunt’s budget will save the wealthiest 1% of pensioners £45,000 when they retire.
Speaking to Sky News, the chancellor accused Labour of shifting its position “overnight”, pointing to remarks by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting in September calling for the limit to be scrapped.
But responding on Twitter, Mr Streeting said he had called for a change specifically for doctors and the Tories opposed it at the time.
Politics live: Chancellor speaks to Sky News after delivering budget
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the new policy was “the wrong priority, at the wrong time, for the wrong people”, adding: “The budget was a chance for the government to unlock Britain’s promise and potential.
“But the only surprise was a £1bn pensions bung for the 1%, a move that will widen the cost of living chasm.”
Mr Hunt used his budget on Wednesday to announce the abolition of the lifetime pensions allowance.
It means people will be allowed to put aside as much as they can in their private scheme without being taxed – removing the £1.07m limit.
The chancellor also said he would increase the pensions annual tax-free allowance, from £40,000 to £60,000, under measures designed to increase the workforce by removing disincentives to being employed for longer.
The policies will cost the Treasury more than £1.1bn a year by 2027-28, with the aim of stopping an estimated 15,000 high earners – including senior NHS doctors – leaving the workforce.
But Ms Reeves called it a “gilded giveaway” coming at a time when many people across the country face “rising bills, higher costs and frozen wages”.
She added: “That’s why a Labour government will reverse this move. We urge the chancellor and the Conservative government to think again too.”
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Jeremy Hunt says the pensions lifetime allowance will be abolished
Asked by Sky News if the NHS needed more nurses rather than encouraging back consultants, the chancellor said the government was recruiting more staff but pensions rules deterring doctors were “a big problem”.
He added: “Wes Streeting said we should get rid of the cap on pensions, the lifetime allowance. He seems to have changed his mind overnight on that one. He said it was crazy and it would save lives to get rid of that cap.
“Well, he was right in September when he said that.”
In response on Twitter, Mr Streeting posted: “Labour called for action on DOCTORS’ pensions to help retention.
“The Tories attacked our suggestion of a tax unregistered scheme on cost grounds. Now you’ve come up with a massive bung to the richest costing £835m a year.”
Labour said they would encourage doctors to stay in work by creating a targeted scheme as the government has done for judges, “rather than create a free-for-all for the wealthy few”.
And experts said that millions of savers will feel no impact from the changes, with Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Director Paul Johnson saying they would “encourage a relatively small number of better-off workers to stay in the workforce a bit longer”.
Meanwhile, the Resolution Foundation warned the policies may actually cause some workers to retire early or use “their now uncapped pensions saving to avoid inheritance tax”.
Chief executive Torsten Bell said the measures are “hugely regressive and wasteful”, adding: “It’s a big victory for NHS consultants but poor value for money for Britain.”
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, also hit out at the plan, saying: “The only permanent tax cut in the budget is for the richest 1%. How can that happen?”
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Mhari Aurora explains all you need to know about the budget
Budget at a glance
The pensions tax break was one of the headline announcements from Mr Hunt’s budget, alongside a pledge to introduce free childcare for children under three.
Some key policies were revealed ahead of the chancellor’s speech, including keeping the cap on energy prices at £2,500 for a further three months, despite a planned rise to £3,000 in April, and 12 new investment zones.
A number of other plans were unveiled by Mr Hunt, including:
• Bringing charges for prepayment meters in line with direct debit charges, impacting over four million households and saving them an average of £45 per year
• Making duty on draught products in pubs up to 11p lower than supermarkets
• Maintaining the freeze in fuel duty
Read more on the budget:
Tax calculator – see if you’re better off
Ed Conway: There’s a feel-bad factor coming, and this budget won’t help
Unions reacted angrily to a lack of measures on public sector pay, saying Mr Hunt “stuck up two fingers to workers with the budget”.
The announcement took place against the backdrop of an estimated half a million workers, including junior doctors, teachers and civil servants, walking out in disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Despite the promises of help with the cost of living, families still face a painful financial squeeze.
Living standards, based on real household disposable income per person, are expected to fall by a cumulative 5.7% over the two financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24 – less than forecast in November but still the largest drop since records began in 1956-57.
Mr Starmer said: “After 13 years of his [the chancellor’s] government, our economy needed major surgery, but like millions across our country, this budget leaves us stuck in the waiting room with only a sticking plaster to hand.
“A country set on a path of managed decline, falling behind our competitors, the sick man of Europe once again.”
Jeffrey Epstein led two different lives – sex offender and celebrity networker – and he did that in the UK as well as the US.
The newly released Epstein documents reveal, in particular, how the paedophile financier ascended into the highest levels of British society.
This photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sprawled across the lap of several women, whose identities have been protected, speaks to his close relationship with Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed for child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with Epstein. But the furnishings are even more revealing.
Epstein files – latest updates
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell. Note: inclusion in Epstein files does not infer wrongdoing
Sky News matched the fireplace in this photo with the one in Sandringham, the estate where the royals tend to spend Christmas – (Andrew is not invited this year).
Andrew has vigorously denied any accusations against him.
Prince Charles, now King Charles III, at Sandringham with Prince Edward. Pic: PA
Also included in the latest release are Epstein’s flight records. They provide some useful corroborating evidence.
A flight log from the Epstein files
On 9 March 2001, his plane landed at “EGGW” – Luton Airport – with JE, GM and VR on board – Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Roberts, better known by her married name of Virginia Giuffre and perhaps Epstein’s most famous accuser.
The next day is when this photo was alleged to have been taken, in London, of Giuffre and Andrew.
Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts, aged 17, and Ghislaine Maxwell at Ghislaine Maxwell’s townhouse in London, in March 2001
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell hunting, date unknown. Pic: US DoJ
Other photos show Maxwell on the steps of Downing Street – and power was as much a draw as celebrity.
Ghislaine Maxwell outside 10 Downing Street, date unknown. Pic: US DoJ
On 15 May 2002, the flight records show Epstein again arriving at Luton.
A flight log from the Epstein files
The next day is when he met Tony Blair, prime minister at the time. This was before Epstein’s first arrest and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing.
Read more:
New photos of Jeffrey Epstein’s circle released
Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case material to be released
The meeting was arranged by Peter Mandelson, who lost his job as ambassador to the US because of his Epstein connections, and who features prominently in the files.
Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US DoJ
The UK was a draw for Epstein’s wider circle too – Maxwell here is pictured touring the Churchill War Rooms with Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey. Neither are accused of wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
(L-R) Ghislaine Maxwell, Kevin Spacey and Bill Clinton, with three other men. Pic: US DoJ
And the other grim life that Epstein led, of sex trafficking, also had British links.
A page from the Epstein files
Another document released in the files, from 2019, shows witness testimony from Maxwell’s trial. In it, a victim is mentioned who is “17 years old” and who grew up “in England”. She would later be taken to Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
Police have announced a £20,000 reward in the hunt for the killers of a man in north London in March.
Mahad Abdi Mohamed, 27, died after being shot in the head in Waverley Road, Tottenham at 8.45pm on 20 March, the Metropolitan Police said.
The Met, which announced the reward from the independent charity Crimestoppers, said officers believed the shooting was a case of mistaken identity.
Police now want to speak to two people in connection with the incident.
DCI Rebecca Woodsford, who is leading the investigation, said: “There is someone out there who knows what happened that night, and we are urging those individuals to find it in their heart to come forward. It could be exactly what we need to locate those responsible.”
Images of the two people police would like to speak to. Pics: Metropolitan Police
A targeted attack
Police believe the suspects, who got out of a stolen Mitsubishi Outlander, which was later recovered burned out, were taking part in a targeted attack.
On the night of the murder, Mahad had spent the early evening with his friend at their home.
They were breaking their fast outside when the Mitsubishi Outlander approached and the suspects opened fire, striking Mahad and his friend multiple times.
Mahad’s 26-year-old friend received treatment for a gunshot wound to his leg.
The force suspects another stolen vehicle, a blue Jaguar, was used to transport the suspects to and from the Mitsubishi.
Read more from Sky News:
Driver guilty of murder in Christmas Day rampage
Ukraine “hits Russian tanker in Mediterranean Sea for first time”
The stolen cars from the night. Pics: Metropolitan Police
Police arrested four adult men in March and April on suspicion of murder, who were subsequently bailed.
The investigation so far has led officers to believe whoever killed Mahad set out to hurt someone else in a pre-planned, targeted attack.
Appealing to the public for information, Mahad’s youngest sister said: “To stay silent is to be complicit. To stay silent is to let a grieving mother suffer in confusion. To stay silent is to let a little boy grow up not knowing what happened to his father.”
Pic: Metropolitan Police
The reward, which is offered for information that leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of those responsible, is available for three months and is due to expire on 20 March 2026.
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