Pension age leak suggests tax rise - papers 21 April

The decision to scrap the move towards a higher retirement age of 65 was taken by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, the paper writes, and came after a deal to avert a 24-hour strike by local government employees ahead of the election. The details were contained in a memo sent to MPs by the ODPM in January, and were revealed by Channel 4 News, the paper says. The government denies the turnaround would lead to higher costs for councils, but the news comes just as the Tory party has unveiled its own election pledge to scrap revaluations of homes – which is likely to ...