Brown repeats pension tax relief "slip-up" on Paxman
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Prime Minister Gordon Brown has repeated what the Labour press office claimed was a “slip of the tongue” by suggesting that higher-rate pension tax relief will be restricted for incomes over £100,000.
Brown originally indicated a change to the stated Labour Party policy on restricting higher-rate pension tax relief during the final leaders’ debate last Thursday night. He said: “Our four-year deficit reduction plans include a rise in the top rate of tax above £100,000, taking away pension tax reliefs for those above £100,000 at a higher rate and a National Insurance rise.”
This appeared to signal a marked change to the current Government proposals to cut higher-rate pension tax relief for incomes over £130,000 from April 2011.
However, when quizzed about this apparent change of stance by Money Marketing on Friday, the Labour press office claimed that Brown had made a “slip of the tongue” in the debate and the current £130,000 figure remained the correct one.
But in a Friday night interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC 1, Brown repeated the same statistic. When asked to clarify Labour’s proposed tax cuts, he said: “We have made it absolutely clear, £19bn, and its the National Insurance, its the top rate of tax above £150,000 and its pension tax relief above £100,000 for people on the higher rate.”
Many in the pension industry had expressed concern that the original “slip-up” signalled Labour’s real intentions should they retain any power in the next administration. The LibDems are committed to restricting pension tax relief to the basic rate.
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Readers' comments (11)
Anonymous | 4 May 2010 9:20 am
Our prime minister seems prone to slips of the tongue especially after calling one of his supporters a bigot. I wonder how many more things he has said which he does not mean like all the promises to the electorate that he has not kept
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NJH | 4 May 2010 9:23 am
When will people realise, that any Govt needs to either raise taxes or restrict tax relief to pull in sufficient funds to pay back the debt. Anyone who believes any of the Election hype from Labour is misguided. At least Gordon Brown makes sufficient gaffs to tip off the population as to his parties real intent. As soon as Labour have the majority for the next term, they can plan the 'changes'. In the last few days before the election expect to see the dirty laundry being hung in public - Labour is getting desperate now.
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Iain | 4 May 2010 9:26 am
All Bully Brown has to do is look at the back of the fag packet that he has always used to calculate his goverments financial policies.
How else could you explain the mess he has left us in.
His problem is that he gets confused between whats should be lies & what should be spin
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Ian Denny | 4 May 2010 9:30 am
How anyone could vote for an idiot and a liar like Brown I do not know. It could well be that if we have a Labour administration for the next five years they will look to ways of abolishing tax relief on pensions altogether. He went someway to destroying pension funds when he was Chancellor, but not his own of course.
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Darren | 4 May 2010 9:44 am
When you are tired you make mistakes, when you are desperate you will say anything.
I hope we are looking at the bemused utterings of a tired and desperate man.
After the 6th be prepared for some tough and necessary measures.
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John | 4 May 2010 9:53 am
I have also noticed that we are being let down by the Royal Mail. David Cameron promised us all a personal contract, but they only seem to be delivering them in marginal constiuencies!
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Mr Smug | 4 May 2010 10:04 am
The writings on the wall for pensions. IMHO pensions ceased to make sense for basic rate taxpayers some time ago. The restrictions imposed on what you can do with your money are not worth the 25% tax free amount you get, and this could be taken away with one stroke of a chancellors pen (remember, retrospective tax legislation is OK now).
Take away higher rate tax relief (it will come) and they will be pointless for everyone.
One nice thought - it's unlikely that Brown will be PM by the end of the week. Whether you are Lab, Lib Dem or Con that has got to be good news - maybe someone else can sort out the mind-bending complex mess he's made of the tax system.
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Liz Roberts | 4 May 2010 10:30 am
I don't feel that in this campaign Labour have been questioned in depth about their own policies and cuts.For weeks any Labour politician when asked,proceeded to tell us at length what the Tories would do and were rarely stopped in their tracks.Gordon brown was a useless Chancellor anyway,and we should have no reason to trust him at all,on anything he says.he is a desperate man still moving the deckchairs on the Titanic while his 'crew' are busy advocating that their erstwhile 'supporters' vote Libdem.then we have the scandal of the postal vote fraud-only a small tip of which has been uncovered.This Election should be called off NOW.and rearranged with NO postal votes allowed,unless too ill or frail to get to the polling station in person,with proof in the form of a GPs letter.Then campaigning to resume for ONE week only,and all negative campaigning and tactical voting calls to be banned.we are worse than many third world countries now,and it makes me despair.
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Rollonfriday | 4 May 2010 11:02 am
B I G O T :-
Brown Is Going On Thursday
Lets hope from Friday we have a Government of common sense and we can at least have 5 years of stability so we can plan some kind of future for both our clients and our businesses.
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Mr Smug | 4 May 2010 11:23 am
This is Labour candidate for North West Norfolk, Manish Sood speaking to his local paper.
"I believe Gordon Brown has been the worst prime minister we have had in this country. It is a disgrace and he owes an apology to the people and the Queen."
Couldn't agree more.
He's just been on Sky News and believe me, he won't be the Labour Party candidate by the end of the day!
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