Gordon Brown has become embroiled in an unprecedented row with business leaders who effectively accused the Government yesterday of trying to lie its way out of the pensions furore.
As the Chancellor maintained his silence on the issue, the Confederation of British Industry went on the offensive, saying it was “completely untrue” that it had ever supported the hugely controversial £5 bil-lion-a-year tax raid on pensions in Labour’s first Budget in 1997. The extraordinary row is a blow to the Chancellor’s long-fought-for reputation as a friend of business.
Ed Balls, the Treasury Minister and close ally of Mr Brown, had to issue a statement retracting claims that he made on Saturday that the CBI fully supported the move to cut tax relief on dividends paid to pensions. The Treasury then became embroiled in a second spin row after it changed its story on why it released highly damaging reports about the tax move late on Friday while Parliament was in recess.
Treasury officials denied trying to bury bad news and told journalists that they had to issue the papers before an Information Commission tribunal yesterday. When it was pointed out that there was never going to be a tribunal yesterday, they claimed that the papers were issued at the first opportunity.
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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/pensions/article1605116.ece
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