I have been enjoying listening to commentators trying to make head or tails of the Pension Minister’s position on taxation , all hoping that there’s something coming there way.

The wealth managers , who make up the readership of Citywire want tax-payers of inheritance tax to be able to use pensions to pay their tax or avoid paying their tax.

Julian Borvill’s article is quite a tour de force; for Citywire and for the Minister.

When asked by Citywire at the Labour Party Conference about the government’s plans for pensions tax relief, Torsten Bell said: ‘It is important that our tax relief system provides strong incentives for people to save.’

A day earlier Bell responded to a question from Citywire about the tax-free pension lump sum by saying: ‘I am not going to get drawn into tax questions.’

That’s called flying high and not near enough to the ground to get shot down by ack ack!

Tax changes discarded?

“Get real”

As Bell told an Edinburgh audience in the spring. Citywire conclude

Bell’s comments, although short, show the government believes pension tax relief is a key lever in helping people save for retirement. This means any radical changes at the November Budget, which Bell is involved in planning for, seem unlikely.

They may have thought that before the changes to inheritance tax on unspent pensions were announced last budget.  The issue is to decide which tax-breaks help the big picture of a nation retiring into comfort and which line the pockets of the rich. I have been around long enough to remember that this is a Labour Government, even if many have fallen for the posh accent and cocky quips of Bell, thinking him one of the rich and mighty which we think we are (or write for)!

What Bell told the Sun newspaper asking the question about changes to entitlement to tax free cash was that he answers questions about pensions and that decisions about tax breaks rest with the Chancellor. That’s the kind of manoeuvring you have to do if you are in both the DWP and the Treasury. Rather than getting stuck in the tight corners of the course, Bell prefers the long straights. He’s into the long drag where he can overtake…

Better pensions, better capitalism

I’m pleased we have one journalist in Liverpool, well done Citywire and well done Julian Bovill.

Bovill

Speaking at a panel event on Tuesday at the Conference, Bell also emphasised that pensions should be seen as a way to boost UK economic growth, as well as for funding individual retirements.

‘Everyone thinks that that we need growth and pensions should contribute,’ the former CEO of think tank the Resolution Foundation said.

‘[We] have to get the growth rate up. It is not a surprise everybody is pissed off. One thing that is under our control is the levels of public investment in the UK economy,’ he said.

‘The way to think of private investment, you need two things to be true – you need finance flows, and one of the biggest mistakes of the last 25 years has been to stop thinking about your pensions schemes as plumbing for your capitalism,’ he added.

‘What we are trying to achieve is better pensions for more people, and better capitalism and we want a set of reforms that is contributing to that.’

The point of voting in politicians is to let them get on with the big picture , while we sit by and watch. Party Conferences are a fun way to find out what the picture is intended to be, whether it turns out the way Bell and Reeves want is for the next few years.

I’m enjoying the set-up of this Minister’s racing car! It’s best best when flat out on the straights! Well commentated Citywire.

Getting set up to go “flat out”