They Promised Us Open Government. But They Will Fight Tooth and Nail to Suppress Any Uncomfortable Truths
Summary
THE ABOLITION of pension fund tax relief in Gordon Brown's first Budget in 1997 is estimated to have cost more than Pounds 100 billion and transformed what was one of the best pension systems in the world into one of the worst.
People who had carefully put money away for their retirement found that their sense of responsibility was being punished. Final salary schemes were closed down and savers got pushed into schemes which were less secure and offered a lower payout.' However, it now turns out that the Chancellor was explicitly warned in advance of the huge damage to the pensions industry this move would do.See the full content of this document
Extract
They Promised Us Open Government. But They Will Fight Tooth and Nail to Suppress Any Uncomfortable Truths
Internal Treasury forecasts sent to the Chancellor before he abolished this tax relief, which were made public a few days ago, warned that the changes would cause a shortfall in assets of up to Pounds 75 billion and that employers would have to contribute about an extra Pounds 10 billion a year for the next ten to 15 yea...
See the full content of this document