Thursday, 17 September 2009

Brendan Barber on spending cuts

The general secretary of the TUC has pinpointed "tax relief on pension savings to be scrapped for higher earners and says measures to curb Britain's national debt should target the better off."
I agree with him, though i fear long-winded administrative measures in order to sort out who needs it or doesn't. If this was done through the direct taxation system and sorted by the Treasury, then i'm in favour.

Barber makes very good points about where the axe will fall:
"He said unions would defend universal benefits such as child benefit being paid to the middle classes, but suggested reviewing tax arrangements for the better off, adding: "Issues like the tax relief on higher rate [taxpayers'] pensions – this is preferential treatment, giving a massive boon to better off people at a huge cost to the public purse, a cost that's equivalent to twice the cost of the overall public sector pensions that some of our critics keep saying is unaffordable."

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