Labor has been accused of “making it up as they go” after promising to roll back Jeremy Hunt’s budget pension tax cut if the party takes power at the next general election. announced that it would abolish life pension benefits to discourage an estimated 15,000 high-income earners (including senior NHS doctors) from retiring early because the rules mean it is not worth continuing to work .
Sir Care Sturmer’s party has pledged to restore the cap on how much money people can put into pensions before they are taxed, and instead create a plan aimed at doctors.
But Labor has come under fire for plans to reverse reforms laid out by the prime minister in his budget bill.
Former Labor and Pensions Secretary Sir Yin Duncan-Smith told The Telegraph, “This is Labor’s fault. They took the decoy and didn’t think this through.”
Former Conservative Pensions Minister Baroness Altman said: “Labour’s announcement is another classic example of a formidable political adjustment on pensions that has repeatedly undermined confidence.
“It never makes sense to penalize good long-term investment performance in a pension. If you have a cap on annual contributions, you don’t need to provide a lifetime benefit.
“Having both seems pointless and discourages some of the higher-return investments the economy really needs.”
Another former Conservative pensions secretary, Andrew Jones, added: “Workers are just making up for it, as they are doing.”
Mr Hunt on Wednesday used the budget to abolish the £1.07 life pension benefit to boost economic growth by reducing the number of working-age adults who choose to retire.
The move is primarily aimed at preventing consultants from retiring early from the pressured NHS.
He also increased the annual tax-free allowance for pensions from £40,000 to £60,000.
Mr. Hunt yesterday swiped in labor For changing positions “overnight” with tax cuts.
He told Sky News: “If you talk to anyone in the NHS they will tell you that doctors leaving the workforce because of pension regulations is a big problem.
“By the way, it was put forward by the Labor Party last September.
“Wes Streeting said we should get rid of the lifetime pension cap.
“He seems to have changed his mind overnight.
“He said it was crazy and removing that cap would save his life. Well, in September he was right.”
