Government must be clear about its plans for pensions

Keir Starmer has a lot on his plate; arguments between the left and right of his party, ministers being forced out over the type of sleaze for which he excoriated Conservative governments, illegal migration numbers that are stubbornly high.

- Graham Robb

But none of his problems is more significant or deep-rooted than the weak economy. The GDP figures announced last week confirmed that hardly any growth is happening at all.

Instead of getting on with growing the economy, the Government has delayed the budget to almost 13 months after the last one. The lateness of the budget, November 26, is creating uncertainty, anxiety and stalling investment.

Here is one tangible example of how. It applies to me, but also to 3.6 million other people aged between 55 and 67, who have not taken the 25% tax-free lump sum from their private pensions. I'm 62 at my next birthday. I'm working, running a business and, at present, have no need for the state to support my income. Like those millions of others, I have planned for my retirement through a mixture of a private pension, savings and investments and the state pension.

I'm about to make a huge decision - whether to withdraw 25% of my pension in a tax-free lump sum or keep to my retirement strategy and withdraw it when I eventually finish work. The reason it is prematurely under consideration is that we all can see the writing on the wall.

Labour needs to fund its plans and has no realistic proposal to curb the growth of public spending. It has ruled out more general tax rises and the tax-free lump sum looks like a tempting source of tax revenue.