Starmer plans a brutal 55% pension tax – after making sure he never has to pay

The tax charge is called the Lifetime Allowance (LTA), and it is one of the most unfair taxes of all. I’ve talked to experts about it over the years, and they’ve variously described it as brutal, punishing, hateful, and terribly complicated.

So bad, in fact, that even Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, a man known for raising the UK tax rate to its highest level in 70 years, decided to scrap it in his budget in March last year.

The relief at his decision didn’t last long. Within hours, the Labor Party labeled it a tax break for Hunt’s rich cronies and immediately vowed to restore it when they took power.

Despite a barrage of criticism from pundits, Labor has yet to retract this rash response. The LTA was abolished from April 6 this year, but could be on its way back in a few months.

But not for everyone, surprisingly.

A man has special immunity from this tax charge, which means he won’t have to pay it no matter how big his pension is.

And this is the man responsible for bringing it back.

According to the LTA, anyone who builds up more than 1.07 million in workplace and personal pensions will see the excess taxed at a staggering 55 per cent rate.

Of course, this will only affect those with very large pensions. Most of us will never come close to breaking it.

However, about two million will. Many of them are successful entrepreneurs or captains of industry who won’t garner much sympathy.

But a large number of public sector workers will also pay, including NHS doctors, police officers, senior teachers and senior military leaders.

Keir Starmer is a notable exception.

His combined pensions are now thought to be worth more than £1 million, even though he is only 61.

However, the pension dating from his five-year period as Director of Public Prosecutions between 2008 and 2013 will not count towards the LTA.

Starmer had the amazing foresight to create a single exception.

He was the sole member and beneficiary of a tax-deductible pension scheme designed to avoid fatal financial charges.

When I wrote about it in the Express in February, I couldn’t believe it was true.

I also assumed that with the election coming up, something would have to give. Surely Starmer couldn’t reinstate a pension tax after trying to avoid it himself?

So far, it looks like he is, despite Tory MP Andrea Leadsom calling him out for his “extraordinary hypocrisy”. I can’t believe it, honestly.

Many are concerned about the bombshell’s impact on the NHS, where a record eight million are waiting for surgery.

Reports are emerging of doctors scrambling to retire to avoid being caught out on lifetime pension payouts.

A Labor spokesman had suggested the party would prevent this by re-establishing the LTA in a way that ensures we retain public sector managers.

Now he seems to have scrapped that plan.

Organizing a carving for yourself is one thing. Imposing this evil tax on surgeons who perform life-saving operations is quite another.

It is an admission of how bad this tax is that Keir Starmer went to such lengths to ensure he would never pay it himself.

So it is strange that he is now working so hard to impose it on others and, of all people, NHS doctors. I still can’t believe it. As always, one rule for them, another for the rest of us.