Tory sources point out that government’s withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Allowance for pensioners on incomes of £35,000 and above actually creates an absurd marginal tax rate for any OAP whose income happens to be exactly £35,000. Presumably nobody in Whitehall has noticed this…
Since the payment isn’t tapered, the cliff-edge means creates a marginal rate of about 10,020% on the next £1 earned for those who hit the £35,000 bullseye. They’d be better off earning £34,999 and keeping their radiators warm with the generosity of taxpayer cash. Of course there’s also the issue of HMRC’s ancient record-keeping resulting in thousands of pensioners losing the payment unfairly because they’re on the wrong tax code. And good luck getting a human being to answer the phones over at HM Revenue and Customs…
Paula Barker, Liverpool Wavertree MP backing Andy Burnham, told Times Radio there wouldn’t be trouble from the markets under Burnham:
“The markets will have to fall in line.”