Tom Selby

Director of Public Policy at AJ Bell. Blackburn Rovers supporter, Actonians AFC's Phil Neville, 'Titan of savings' (Jason Rosam, BBC Radio London).

[LBC @LBC]

'It's a dumb policy... it's like saying you're going to tax only £10 notes.'

Rumours are swirling that Rachel Reeves is going to tax cash sitting in ISAs. Ben Kumar and Chris Justham tell @TomSwarbrick1 that they aren't too keen.

[Graham Ruddick @GrahamtRuddick]

Someone is going to look like a donkey.

The NFL draft is the story of the ultimate accountable decision. We get to see who succeeds and who fails.

That is why it is such a fascinating place to learn about the art (or not) of decision-making

https://t.co/QRgCh3C1jQ

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@dontdelay I'm not quite saying that! Heard Harriet Harman the other day framing a move to a double-lock as a big revenue raiser, for example. Would have saved precisely nothing over the last few years and fair chance it would save nothing in the near future given inflationary pressures.

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@ruddick @BBCBreakfast *Sorry, Samsung!

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@MrRBourne Pensioners should be as angry as anyone about the triple-lock. Its existence is essentially the government admitting the value is too low but only committing to increase it in real terms when inflation/earnings are sub-2.5%.

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@David_J_Robbins It's technically a number of days...

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

I've warned about the risks of conflating the goals of pension savers with govt since the first 'Mansion House' speech. @Jeremy_Hunt threatened "further action" if UK allocations didn't rise in his 2024 budget speech - most read that as "do this voluntarily or we'll make you"...

[Helen Whately MP @Helen_Whately]

Desperate for cash, Labour now want to pinch your pensions to bankroll their pet projects.

I’m against it. Most of the pensions sector is too.

Time for them to listen ➡️ @thetimes

https://t.co/NOBZJG440d

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@PensionsMonkey Excellent column. Has your thinking shifted? Remember you seeming more sanguine than me about Jeremy Hunt threatening mandation at the 2024 Budget when we discussed on your much-missed Lang Cat podcast

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

Govt may not have pulled the trigger but gun is fairly clearly pointed at the head of pension schemes. For what reason if not to ‘nudge’ them to invest how the Govt wants?

[Torsten Bell @TorstenBell]

Luckily… the government isn’t directing how pension funds are investing. Ludicrous click bait framing that needs calling out.

[Graham Ruddick @GrahamtRuddick]

The Only Story in Town. Coming soon...

[Mark Kleinman @MarkKleinmanSky]

Exclusive: ISA providers have stepped up their warnings over Rachel Reeves's limits on cash ISAs, warning in "heated" talks with Treasury and HMRC officials today that the plans risk driving investors away from, rather than towards, the UK stock market. https://t.co/vu5dozl8f5

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@David_J_Robbins @dontdelay Yep. And we'll have to raise the same question of 'what about existing entitlements?' If you have some sort of awful new protection regime then the revenue raised must be pretty small (in the short-medium-term at least)

[Simon French @Frencheconomics]

In a crowded field “a wealth tax” is a phrase I’d like to see sunset. The UK has quite a few wealth taxes - including IHT and CGT. What these genuine economists don’t do is put a new tax on wealth in context of existing levies. For example Norway’s annual wealth tax came after its Inheritance Tax was abolished. If the UK wants a sensible public policy debate then all taxes on wealth should be in scope - and so cover the (probable) merits of moving from an event driven tax (at sale, death) to a recurring annual levy.

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@PensionsMonkey I'm pretty confident this policy will garner them somewhere in the region of zero votes!

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

Can someone please explain to me why over 65s need to be exempt from the Cash ISA allowance cut? Beyond appeasing older voters? Logically, if you're retired, surely you're drawing down assets rather than maxing out your Cash ISA allowance...?

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@David_J_Robbins I like your cynicism but not convinced this government is playing 4D chess. Also no idea why it's age 65 when SPA is age 66. Almost like they're making it up on the hoof...

[Tom Selby @thomasselby]

@MartinSLewis Agree cutting the Cash ISA allowance would be pointless but don’t get the argument for exempting pensioners who will mostly be taking an income from their pensions / ISAs rather than putting £20k a year in…