ohOne week down, five to go. Good luck, everyone. What have we learned? The Conservatives plan to throw around a bunch of different policies. Well, that’s OK. Talking about wild new ideas for the future avoids conversations about the past (stagnant wages and ubiquitous potholes mean the public has pretty much made up its mind about the Conservatives).
These are not random announcements, but are targeted at an older demographic of 2019 Conservative voters who are now leaning more reformist (which is why the younger Mr Sunak is proposing to make “volunteering” compulsory for young people).
And the “triple lock plus” would see personal allowances for pensioners increased by at least 2.5% or in line with earnings and inflation, whichever is higher, to stop people relying on state pensions getting caught up in paying tax.
This would be worth around £250 a year to eight million pensioners by the end of the next parliament, but research suggests this is not necessarily a deciding factor for the Chancellor.
Firstly, pensioners are not stupid. The only reason pensioners are at risk of paying tax on their state pensions is because Mr Sunak froze the tax limits. Now he expects pensioners to be grateful. Only 65% of the tax increase will be repealed.Who abolished tax credits for pensioners in the first place? George Osborne in the 2010s. Last year, 8.5 million people aged 65 or older paid income tax, down from 4.9 million in 2010..
Number 2, YouGov Poll While 48% of over-65s see health as a top priority, just 7% think the same about tax. Trying to buy off baby boomers with small tax cuts completely misses the point that they want something else too: a functioning NHS.
Torsten Bell is the Labour candidate for Swansea West and author of a forthcoming book. Britain? How to reclaim our future
After newsletter promotion
-
Do you have an opinion on any issue raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of 250 words or less for consideration for publication, please email it to observer.letters@observer.co.uk
