{"id":779730,"date":"2026-09-23T07:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779730\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T07:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:18:11","slug":"thinktank-linked-to-reform-uk-calls-for-abolition-of-state-pension-reform-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779730\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinktank linked to Reform UK calls for abolition of state pension | Reform UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

A thinktank linked to Reform UK<\/a> has called for the abolition of the state pension and \u00a375bn worth of sweeping tax cuts in a \u201cradical\u201d report likely to influence the party\u2019s platform for the next election.<\/p>\n

The Centre for a Better Britain\u2019s (CFABB)<\/a> report \u2013 which also calls for weaker rules for UK banks and Trump-style investment accounts offering \u00a31,000 to newborns \u2013 will be formally launched at a private event with City executives on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The 183-page report, entitled \u201cBoosting Britain\u201d, proposes abolishing taxes typically levied on wealthy Britons, including capital gains tax and inheritance tax, which it says disrupts family businesses and encourages people to move their wealth out of the UK.<\/p>\n

The CFABB \u2013 founded and led by former Reform chief operations officer Jonathan Brown \u2013 also calls for the elimination of stamp duty on property and shares, digital service tax and air passenger duty, and a drastic reduction in \u201cinternationally uncompetitive\u201d corporation tax from 25% to 15% over eight years.<\/p>\n

That would effectively \u201cremove up to 50% of the existing tax code\u201d at a \u00a375bn cost to the public finances.<\/p>\n

The report said it amounted to a \u201ca programme of radical reform to Britain\u2019s financial system and tax code, designed ultimately to raise productivity and living standards through better-paid jobs, higher retirement incomes, higher business investment, more businesses starting and scaling, and less time and money spent on unproductive activity\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report stresses that any tax changes would have to be matched by cuts to public spending \u2013 to avoid a Liz Truss-style market meltdown<\/a> \u2013 but stopped short of outlining how exactly to match all of those cuts with cost savings.<\/p>\n

However, the CFABB says some ways to cut spending could involve closing the coveted public pension plan to new teachers and civil servants, and eradicating the state pension. The Department for Work and Pensions<\/a> forecasts the state pension will cost the public purse \u00a3146.1bn in 2025 to 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue with the state pension is that it\u2019s essentially a Ponzi scheme,\u201d Brown told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday, suggesting workers were unfairly funding current retirees.<\/p>\n

Instead, a \u201clifetime investment account\u201d, would take its place. The Trump-style investment accounts would come as a \u00a31,000 starter pack to children at birth, with account holders later contributing up to 15% of earnings into their personal retirement pot. The state pension would only remain as \u201cmeans-tested safety net\u201d for the worst-off.<\/p>\n

The report has been released weeks before prime minister Andy Burnham\u2019s government is due to reveal its first budget.<\/p>\n

The CFABB launched formally last year, after raising fresh funds under its previous guise, Resolute 1850 \u2013 a reference to the ship whose timbers were used in the White House\u2019s Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Its report is likely to prompt debate, having also called for a sliding scale for bank taxes, breaking up the Treasury \u2013 moving some responsibilities to a new \u201cDepartment for Economic Growth\u201d \u2013 and making sure senior bosses at the Bank of England have their pay linked to hitting inflation targets.<\/p>\n

The CFABB\u2019s funding is unclear. It has notable ties with Reform UK, with its operations based in Millbank Tower near Reform\u2019s headquarters, but authors insisted that their work had yet to be reviewed by the party.<\/p>\n

CFABB has five staff, and previously counted James Orr \u2013 Reform UK\u2019s former head of policy \u2013 as the chair of its advisory board.<\/p>\n

Orr was suspended from Reform UK earlier this month<\/a> after being filmed in an undercover investigation appearing to help orchestrate a plot to get around electoral laws on foreign donations. Orr denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for CFABB said Orr stepped down from the thinktank role when he took a job at Reform in February, and was not replaced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A thinktank linked to Reform UK has called for the abolition of the state pension and \u00a375bn worth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-779730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779730","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=779730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}