Webb's pensions post raises fears over higher-rate tax relief

The Tories have agreed to Lib Dem plans to remove income tax on the first £10,000 of earnings, although this will be phased in. It is a pledge Nick Clegg's party said in their election campaign would be paid for by giving tax relief on pensions only at the basic rate. Tory minister Iain Duncan Smith has taken the senior post of secretary of state for the Department of Work and Pensions, but with Lib Dem Webb responsible for pensions, fears are mounting higher rate relief could be a sacrifice of the Tory-Lib pact. Head of pension research at Hargreaves Lansdown Tom McPhail says: "I am ...