Chancellor’s tampering with pension pot is the final straw

IS anyone else incensed at the audacity of this Government in relation to recent changes governing the amounts one can drawdown from a personal pension pot?

For years, we have been encouraged by all political parties to provide for our retirement and, like many others, I put aside what I thought would be an adequate sum to provide funds for my wife and I in our retirement.

The financial crisis in 2008 shaved thousands from my (and many others’) “pot” which were lost forever and although recent years have seen some growth in funds the Government has now decided that those of us who worked all our lives should be punished further for building up a pension pot.

The facts, for those who are unaware of this travesty, are quite simple. Until 2011 anyone with a personal “pot” was able to drawdown each year a maximum of 11.55 per cent of the “pot”. This has been reduced in one fell swoop to six per cent.

It doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that this results in a loss of annual income to the tune of 48 per cent.

Would anyone working today simply lie down and accept that their income was to be slashed by this amount? I think not. This is my money and I take great exception to this Government deciding on how much I need to enjoy retirement.

Yet the Chancellor said: “This Budget is for those who work hard and save for their retirement.” What a joke.

Of course we all know the real reason behind these tactics is so that those who have saved for their retirement don’t become a burden on the welfare state as they grow old. So much for being responsible and standing on one’s own two feet. It doesn’t pay any more. I have voted for the Tories all my life but no more.

From: Tim Mickleburgh, Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby,

WHY on earth should working couples with a joint income of nearly £300,000 still qualify for childcare tax breaks?

I think we forget that people choose to have children, and that it shouldn’t be for the childless to have to subsidise other people’s offspring.

Especially of course when they’re earning a six-figure salary – that can’t be justified at a time of public spending restrictions elsewhere.

From: Edward White, Huntingdon Crescent, Sheffield.

EVERY time the Chancellor cancels a rise in fuel duty, out comes a spokesperson from one of the various green or public transport lobby groups not only to criticise the decision but state that the policy is wrong and that the increases should continue.

These groups now need to give people an honest answer as to what price per litre they think we should pay and why.

From: Ian Hobson, Netherfield Road, Guiseley.

THE average UK household’s annual food bill was over £100 higher in 2012 than in 2011, putting a strain on overstretched household budgets.

In poorer countries, where people often spend most of their incomes on food, price rises have an even greater impact, forcing millions to go hungry.

One of the reasons prices have been rising so rapidly is that banks and hedge funds are pouring millions of pounds of speculative money into food futures markets, pushing prices beyond the levels dictated by supply and demand.

Access to food is a basic human right, and banks should not be allowed to play havoc with food prices.

New legislation to limit food speculation is on the table at the EU, but George Osborne and his Treasury colleagues have so far blocked tough controls. We must demand that our politicians put the needs of hungry people, at home and abroad, before the profits of investment banks.

From: George Appleby, Leighton Croft, Clifton, York.

WE let our house in York in the late 60s and went into a co-ownership flat in Birmingham. The Lord Mayor and his lady came to tea on the opening and we stayed in it until we sold the York house a few years after. When we left, having made some good friends and bought another house, we got a lump sum from the scheme.

The council set up quite a few of these schemes which were very popular. We have never heard of any others since then but would they help today in the scarcity of houses for first-time buyers?