Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been warned not to target older people as she seeks to balance the nation’s books.
Later Life Ambitions (LLA), which represents 250,000 older people across the UK, says that the Chancellor’s refusal in her speech this morning to rule out tax rises will deepen financial anxiety among pensioners already struggling with the cost of living.
The Chancellor said today that she would make the “necessary choices” in her upcoming 26 November Budget, widely interpreted as paving the way for tax increases to fill a £20 billion fiscal gap.
LLA has said that any further tax rises would hit pensioners hardest, given frozen income tax thresholds and inflation-linked pension increases that already push many modest savers into paying tax for the first time.
In its Budget for Later Life, published last week, LLA called for tax thresholds to be indexed to inflation and for a minimum income guarantee to ensure older people can live with dignity.
Alan Lees, CEO, NARPO and a spokesperson for LLA, said: “Older people are not fair game for the Treasury. Many have already seen their modest pensions dragged into the tax net because thresholds have been frozen since 2021. Any further rise would be a stealth tax on the very people who built this country.
“The Chancellor talks about fairness and strong foundations, but fairness cannot mean asking pensioners to shoulder the burden for decades of fiscal mismanagement. Older people need stable incomes, secure housing and affordable care – not more uncertainty at every Budget.
“LLA’s Budget for Later Life sets out practical steps for growth that doesn’t come at the expense of pensioners’ wellbeing. We urge the Government to make good on its promise of fairness and protect those who’ve already paid in all their lives.”
The Budget for Later Life outlines a comprehensive plan for older people’s financial security, including protection of the State Pension triple lock beyond 2029, action on pension taxation, age discrimination, housing, and the gender pension gap. It builds on LLA’s 2023 cross-party Pensioners’ Manifesto.
