Ken Davy: Pension tax backdown like the grand old duke of York's
17 Mar 2016
The Chancellor has backed down on reform because now is ‘not the right time’
What a farce we have just witnessed on the so-called reform of pensions tax relief.
The unedifying image of the Chancellor announcing that changes to pension tax relief would now not be announced in the Budget, almost beggars belief. In other words, “we are telling you, a week before the Budget, that a major change we might have introduced is now not going to happen”.
I cannot recall another instance where a government has initiated and orchestrated such a strong case for reform, and then chickened out at the last minute. Just like the Grand Old Duke of York, he has marched his troops to the top of the hill and he has marched them down again.