No pensions tax thresholds review in sight as Rishi Sunak refuses to commit

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps arrive at Warsaw Chopin airport in Warsaw during a visit to Poland and Germany. Henry Nicholls/PA Wire

IN WARSAW – Rishi Sunak refused to say whether he would look at raising personal thresholds for pensioners to stop them being dragged into paying more tax.

The Prime Minister said he would “always have the backs of pensioners” and was committed to supporting retirees through the state pension triple lock.

But he would not commit to reviewing the threshold on personal allowances before the general election.

It comes as millions of pensioners are being pulled into paying higher taxes due to recent increases in the state pension.

Pressed on this, Mr Sunak said: “I’m really proud of our support for pensioners. It was a Conservative government that introduced the triple lock and a Conservative Government that’s protected it, and a Conservative government that is committed to the triple lock in the next parliament.”

He pointed out that the Labour Party had not yet publicly confirmed it would be retaining the triple lock in its manifesto.

Mr Sunak said the £900 increase in the state pension “comes on the back of the considerable support that we’ve provided to pensioners over the last winter with energy bills”.

He told reporters: “We will always have the backs of pensioners and that’s because it’s about values for me and I believe in a country where if you work hard all your life, you deserve dignity in retirement.

“That’s why we’ve committed to the state pension but also why the other week I was talking about veterans and making sure this is the best country in the world to be a veteran.

“For me, it’s about values and how we express ourselves as a country. I think we take pride in looking after people who have worked hard all their lives.

“Whether it’s pensioners with the triple lock or whether it’s veterans who have served – those are important things to me as prime minister that we do properly and I’m proud of our record.”