NEWS
Pensions raid to pay for lockdowns
Treasury officials are drawing up plans for a pensions tax raid in the autumn to help pay for heightened public spending during the Covid pandemic. Three different reforms to the way in which pension contributions are taxed are being considered amid pressure on the public finances, according to well-placed Whitehall sources. One of the ideas being examined is reducing the pensions lifetime allowance from a little above £1million to £800,000 or £900,000, lowering the point above which extra tax charges kick in – Telegraph
Lockdown lifting ‘cannot be accelerated to July 5’ – Telegraph
Just 1 in 200 amber list travellers have coronavirus – Times
Covid jabs ‘will be offered to 16 and 17-year-olds before schools return in September’ – Mail
Police make arrests as locals say they are too scared to leave their houses after 1,500 travellers descended on showground for religious event – Mail
Download Festival is ‘100 per cent evidence’ that big music events can take place safely – Mail
Emmanuel Macron suffers election humiliation: Own MP describes vote as ‘slap in face’ – Express
Oxford’s oldest student newspaper could be vetted by sensitivity readers to remove ‘problematic’ articles – Telegraph
White Illinois farmers sue over race-based farm loan relief program – Epoch Times
COMMENT
Decades of building hideous new homes have put us off development – Tim Stanley, Telegraph
