Tory promise over pensions equality
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Conservative Party will today unveil its latest populist policy for the general election by pledging to give all workers the same pension rights as their "fat-cat" bosses.
David Willetts, the shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, will announce that a Tory government would withdraw tax relief from companies that failed to open their pension scheme to all their employees.
In a speech to the National Association of Pension Funds annual conference, Mr Willetts will also reveal plans to scrap the Treasury's proposals to cap individual pension funds at £1.4m. With more than 45 per cent of all final-salary pension schemes now closed to new members, a Tory pledge to tackle the problem is certain to prove popular among voters.
Many firms allow senior management to continue joining their schemes while excluding those lower down the ladder, while some have separate funds for managers.
The Conservatives propose removing current tax relief, worth up to 40 per cent, from a company's pension scheme if it fails to offer exactly the same access to all members of staff.
The scheme is based on similar rules in the United States, where tax relief is conditional upon all workers being given an equal opportunity to join a firm's pension fund.
Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, announced in December that the Government intended to impose a £1.4m cap on individual pension funds, replacing the earnings cap applied at present. The Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor are to be exempt from the cap.
Ministers claimed that the proposal, which is expected in the forthcoming Pensions Bill, would hit only 5,000 extremely rich employees. Mr Willetts said that independent estimates had shown that up to 600,000 people could be affected.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments