Brown must back basic state pension in budget - Sharp

12.00.00am GMT Mon 5th Mar 2001

Ahead of this week's Budget, Keith Sharp, Parliamentary Spokesman for Islington South & Finsbury, has called on Gordon Brown to put money into the basic state pension claimed by everyone who is entitled and not into bureaucratic tax credits schemes. He will also highlight Lib Dem plans to increase the state pension by 5 a week for each single pensioner, 10 for the over 75s and 15 for the over 80s (on top of the April 2001 increases), with couples receiving 8, 18 and 28 respectively. These would be funded by a new top tax rate of 50p on income over 100,000 a year. Keith Sharp PPC said: "This Government has been a shambles on pensions. The Government only put pensions up when there is an election on the horizon. Labour's vision of the future is more means testing. Gordon Brown should put money into the basic state pension and not into new complicated tax credit schemes which no-one understands and many fail to claim. Liberal Democrats are the only party to guarantee the long-term future of the basic state pension."