Another pensions tax raid is now a real threat

T

hat the government is in a very difficult financial position is beyond doubt, although opinions may vary over the extent to which its predicament is self-inflicted.

They need money to meet their spending plans and having ruled out taxes on “working people”, there are few options open to them. The budget is due in a few weeks. They need to find about £50 billion.

Enter stage left Torsten Bell, now tasked with helping Rachel Reeves to write her budget. I think our pensions are high on his list of targets.

The UK pension system holds trillions of pounds of capital and every year the government grants pension tax relief of about £70 billion, disproportionately to higher earners.