{"id":284196,"date":"2025-11-26T10:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T10:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/284196\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T10:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T10:35:09","slug":"rachel-reeves-given-pensions-ultimatum-as-labour-risks-election-armageddon-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/284196\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves given pensions ultimatum as Labour risks election armageddon | Politics | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachel Reeves has been warned that Labour will be punished at the ballot box if she betrays pensioners with stealth tax hikes<\/a> in Wednesday’s Budget. The Chancellor is tipped to announce a two-year freeze on tax thresholds when she delivers her crunch fiscal statement at lunchtime.<\/p>\n

But the measure could leave pensioners \u00a3800 a year worse off and drag another half a million OAPs into the tax net. The move would be even more unpopular than last year\u2019s controversial scrapping of the winter fuel payment<\/a> and would break Labour\u2019s election manifesto pledge not to raise taxes for working people. She is also expected to unveil a pensions raid worth up to \u00a34billion by clamping down on popular salary-sacrifice schemes.<\/p>\n

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch savaged Labour\u2019s record at protecting the livelihoods of pensioners.<\/p>\n

She said: “Last year, Rachel Reeves<\/a> broke her pre-election promise and snatched away the winter fuel allowance, leaving millions of vulnerable pensioners facing an uncertain winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, the Chancellor looks set to drag the state pension<\/a> into income tax for the first time ever, and she’s coming after pensioners’ savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Conservatives<\/a> will always stand up for those who have worked hard all their lives and those who do the right thing by saving for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of making life harder for pensioners, Reeves should be cutting government spending, bringing down the welfare bill and getting Britain working again.”<\/p>\n

The stark warning comes as almost 200,000 people backed a petition urging Ms Reeves to ditch the planned measure.<\/p>\n

It has been set up to help people like widow Colette Rogers. The 75-year-old is entitled to a proportion of her late husband’s state pension alongside her own.<\/p>\n

She found for the first time this year that the combined total took her over the tax threshold by about \u00a31,000.<\/p>\n

Her small NHS pension of \u00a337 a month, earned as a GP practice nurse, is also being taxed. Last winter, she lost her winter fuel payment.<\/p>\n

Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices campaign group for over-60s, said: \u201cWhy should the state pension, which has been paid for through a lifetime of National Insurance contributions, be taxed again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLabour seems in denial about the impact of its plans for extending the freeze on thresholds on 13million older people, and millions of retirees in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Chancellor persists on this course, she will be betraying a generations-old compact with the public \u2013 that you pay into the system so that you get a decent, and untaxed, state pension when you can no longer work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plan would result in 9.3million pensioners \u2013 more than three quarters of all OAPs \u2013 paying tax compared to 8.7million currently.<\/p>\n

Former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann said: \u201cI urge the Chancellor to be very careful to ensure that this Budget does not deliver any nasty surprises for Britain’s pensioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year’s winter fuel payment withdrawal caused huge distress among millions of the poorest pensioners, and trying to hide any income reductions by using so-called stealth taxes would not be right.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the Chancellor should do more to help people build better private pensions to top up the low state payment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rumours of capping or scrapping tax reliefs have already been very damaging, and I would like to see the Chancellor announce she will reconsider the unworkable proposals to impose inheritance tax on unused pension funds, which will cause misery and costs for bereaved families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> have repeatedly promised there would be no increase in taxes for working people during the election campaign and ruled out rises to VAT, National Insurance and income tax.<\/p>\n

The Chancellor is desperately looking for ways to plug an estimated \u00a325billion black hole in the nation’s finances.<\/p>\n

Treasury figures have hinted at a string of smaller taxes on everything from gambling and taxis to mansions and milkshakes.<\/p>\n

But these do not come close to generating the shortfall Ms Reeves is looking to raise.<\/p>\n

The much-publicised mansion tax, for example, may raise as little as \u00a3400million.<\/p>\n

She is also planning to scrap the two-child benefit cap, a move that will drive up Britain’s ballooning welfare bill.<\/p>\n

The Chancellor vowed to deliver a Budget that \u201ctakes fair and necessary choices\u201d.<\/p>\n

She promised it will include action to cut NHS waiting lists, slash debt and borrowing, and drive down the cost of living<\/a> while fuelling economic growth.<\/p>\n

It will include measures to keep prescription costs under \u00a310, freeze rail fares for the first time in 30 years and increase the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.<\/p>\n

Ms Reeves said: \u201cToday I will take the fair and necessary choices to deliver on our promise of change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not return Britain back to austerity, nor will I lose control of public spending with reckless borrowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will take action to help families with the cost of living \u2026 cut hospital waiting lists\u2026cut the national debt.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I will push ahead with the biggest drive for growth in a generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestment in roads, rail and energy. Investment in housing, security and defence. Investment in education, skills and training.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo together, we can build a fairer, stronger, and more secure Britain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves has been warned that Labour will be punished at the ballot box if she betrays pensioners…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,12174,115791,2053,5107,115789,4174,4175,1445,115790,1892,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-284196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-kemi-badenoch","11":"tag-labour-election-risk","12":"tag-labour-party","13":"tag-pension","14":"tag-pensions-ultimatum","15":"tag-personal-finance","16":"tag-personalfinance","17":"tag-rachel-reeves","18":"tag-stealth-tax-hikes","19":"tag-taxes","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}