UK 18:47 Friday, 23 October 2026
Breaking news and expert analysis on fast-moving AIM and LSE listed shares
Two matters in this bonus podcast. Secondly proposed changes to pension rules. The odious twit Jacob Rees Mogg MP calls this socialism. It is not, it is fewer tax breaks for the uber rich and I explain why chancellor Osborne should go further and tell the son of privilege Rees Mogg and others where to stick it. But first, someone accuses me of being jealous of David Lenigas as he is rich. Folks used to say I was jealous of Rob Terry's wealth and that is why I attacked him. Au contraire, fraudsters and shysters will always have more money than I but it is not their wealth that angers me but how they accumulated it as I explain for Judith W who - pathetically - posts:
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Comments
Woody44
Jacob Rees-Mogg makes a good point. When calculating the overall tax burden on various sections of society, the Treasury includes tax reliefs into its calculations. If the Chancellor wants to change the tax burden or influence behaviour he can tinker with any number of taxes and tax reliefs. Tax relief on pensions is intended to encourage people to save for their pensions. It is not a tax break; top rate or additional rate taxpayers are already paying high levels of tax but are relieved of some of it in the short term if they save it in a pension plan. It will then be taxed at a later date and may relieve the state of some of the burden of looking after that individual in retirement. Shouting about the rich avoiding tax by using a pension plan is misguided. The overall tax burden is still high for these people but by managing their affairs in a certain way, they are able to reduce the overall burden by a relatively small extent (don’t forget there is already a limit to the maximum you can save in this way).
By removing this tax relief, the Chancellor is simply increasing the overall tax burden on specific sections of society and discouraging a certain type of behaviour. If he wants to increase the tax burden, he could simply raise income tax, or introduce a wealth tax or any number of as yet untried methods of taxation but he appears to believe removing pensions tax relief is the most politically sound method (perhaps it’s because it doesn’t apply to final salary schemes?!).
Increasing the tax burden on the rich, which will no doubt be spent on the poor, is a form of socialism. Whether or not you agree it is the right thing to do, you can’t say Jacob Rees-Mogg is incorrect.
The excellent lecture at the Investor Show given by Mark Littlewood of the IEA has reinforced my belief that increasing the overall tax burden on any section of society is likely to be damaging for the economy. I would have thought that you would agree with much of what he said and would take a similar view.
I can believe you don’t hate rich people and surely no one could be jealous of Rob Terry but it’s pretty clear you hate posh people or anyone who has had the temerity to be sent to a private school.
Tom Winnifrith
Woody
Taking away a tax relief is not redistributing wealth. It is merely removing a subsidy from one form of taxpayer. I would fight tooth and nail against punishing high earners with more taxes as that is socialism but just taking away tax breaks is fair. There should be NO tax breaks anywhere for that is a corruption of capitalism or, put another way, rich men like R-M looking after other rich men
T
Wayne
These days, people of quite modest professions get snarled up in the 40% (+2% NI) tax rate (they might just work shifts/long hours).
42% on an ordinary working blokes income is obscene.
Osborne becomes more like Gordon Brown every day, robbing decent hard working people to pay scroungers.