Will Reeves plunder our savings over failed plans?

ONE YEAR ago today, Rachel Reeves was settling into her role as Chancellor - although to taxpayers, it may feel a lot longer than that. It’s been a turbulent and controversial 12 months, culminating in last week’s tearful breakdown during Prime Minister’s Questions, an astonishing moment that sent the pound plunging and UK borrowing costs soaring.

- By Harvey Jones

While the immediate row has eased, many are still wondering how long she can cling on. Others are more concerned about what may follow.

In just a year, Reeves has hammered business confidence, destroyed growth forecasts and unleashed a punishing tax assault with no sign of ending. And now it looks like there is a lot more to come.

ATTACK

Reeves began by scrapping two major pillars of long-term welfare policy — the winter fuel payment for most pensioners and a planned cap on social care costs.

The first was so contentious it has largely been reversed.

Many will have forgotten about the promised £86,000 cap on long-term care costs, but Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, warned its loss will be “devastating for those who need care and face catastrophic costs”.

Reeves didn’t stop there. In her first Budget, she unveiled a £40bn tax raid - even more brutal than expected.

She hiked employers' National Insurance, which analysts say has already cost 275,000 jobs. She also tightened inheritance tax relief on family farms and businesses and declared plans to impose inheritance tax on unused pensions from 2027.

Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, warned:

“Proposals to charge IHT on pensions are unworkable and may wreak havoc in the industry.”