George Osborne backs down on radical pension reform. Did someone lean on him?
George Osborne at the British chambers of commerce’s annual conference in London. The mouth is working but the brain isn’t [Image: Lauren Hurley/PA].
He’s scrapped a plan to reduce pension tax relief for higher earners because affluent voters might turn away from his party.
We may speculate that somebody had a quiet word with him, telling him to spike the idea. But here’s the thing:
He must have known that was going to happen, mustn’t he?
So why did he suggest it as a policy? To convince us that the Conservative Government really wants everyone to do their bit to cut the deficit and the national debt?
Well, he has succeeded in the exact opposite.
This U-turn shows definitively that the rich who created those debts are relying on the poor to pay them off.
George Osborne has been forced to abandon a package of pension reforms, including reducing tax relief for higher earners, amid growing concern that their introduction could have prompted a backlash from affluent voters.
With less than a fortnight to go before the budget, Treasury insiders took the rare step on Friday of ruling out changes that had been mooted. The proposals had included the more radical option of creating a “pensions Isa” that would have eliminated pension tax relief for all those in work.
Source: George Osborne backs down on radical pension reform | Politics | The Guardian
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Osborne is a despicable person and is now shown to be driven politically by power and self- interest.
The top guys will be the biggest beneficiaries of the pension contribution tax relief and one can bet they were the ones leaning heavily on this nasty piece of work. Sure middle classes will also be pleased of this news however most will not have the resources of the upper rich to heavily play the pension game. However now totally proves they are for the rich not the peasants….who must still be milked to pay off their debts.
You can also take this further, Mike – our glorious Conservative overlords have tried on two separate occasions to get their cuts to tax credits through parliament, being defeated by the Lords each time, but they’re still not giving them up. The tax relief cut on pensions is torpedoed before its even been considered. That tells you everything you need to know about our government, right there.