The Conservatives have announced a £1.7bn tax-cutting package aimed at “tackling the nation’s pensions time-bomb”.
Under the plan, the Conservatives would add £10 to every £100 a person saves towards their pension pot. The aim is to encourage people of all ages to put more money into their pensions.
The money is supposed to come from the £35bn in savings in public spending promised by the party in their review of spending by David James.
The scheme will mean that for a person on average earnings, the relief across a working lifetime could boost their pension by up to £500 a year, the party said.
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Conservative party leader Michael Howard accused Labour of only thinking of the short term.
“When I meet people they often say to me ‘too many politicians are interested in the short term – tomorrow and next week, rather than 10 years time,” he said. “We’re announcing a detailed, carefully considered and fully-costed proposal to repair the long-term damage done by [chancellor] Gordon Brown’s pension tax.”
