Liberator 431 is out and can be downloaded here: https://liberatormagazine.org.uk
In addition to Commentary, Letters and Lord Bonkers’ Diary find out in Radical Bulletin who at Westminster has put a shot across Ed Davey’s bow, why the party is running out of peers and whether there’s a link between Cyprus and vets bills.
LABOUR IN PAIN
The government’s performance is the antithesis of a sound economy, says Sarah Olney
A REVIEW TO DISAPPOINT HEDGEHOGS AND FOXES
The Liberal Democrat policy review fails to provide the ‘vision thing’, says David Grace
HOMES BROKEN BY SOCIAL HOUSING
Poor and overcrowded homes are damaging residents’ health and life prospects, says Rachel Bentley
PENSIONERS PAYING
Should wealthier pensioners be asked to pay towards the NHS? William Tranby explains why
FENCE SITTERS
Abstaining in Parliament is no strategy for the Lib Dems, says Sophie Layton
STARMER SHOULD GET REAL ABOUT DEFENCE
In a world where Europe can no longer rely on America for defence and Russian aggression continues in Ukraine, George Cunningham says radical change is needed to thinking about UK defence
PRESIDENTIAL PITCHES
Answers to Liberator’s questions from the three known candidates vying for the somewhat “it’s what you make of it” post of Liberal Democrat president
THE MYTH OF MANAGERIALISM
Julian Ingram argues that the answer to increasingly transactional voters lies in the Liberal Democrat preamble, not just the latest slogan
WHEN ENGLAND SAYS F OFF
The ‘F10’ attempt to streamline the Lib Dem candidates process was misunderstood and should be resolved and implemented, says Chris White
WHERE THE PARTY CAME FROM
Jonathan Calder looks at a new book on liberalism that challenges assumptions about the roles of noted thinkers
REVIEWS
The Mission: The CIA In The 21st Century, by Tim Weiner (Rebecca Tinsley)
Lord Clegg Awakes (play), by Horace Smith and Virgil Soloman (Mark Smulian)
Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler, by Tim Bouverie (Peter Johnson)
Underdogs: The Truth about Britain’s White Working Class, by Joel Budd (Andrew Hudson)
The Migrant’s Jail: An American History of Mass Incarceration, by Brianna Nofil (Eleanor Healy-Burt)
Environmental Lobbying at the United Nations: A Guide to Protecting Our Planet, by Felix Dodds and Chris Spence (Louise Harris)
Disorderly Magic and Other Disturbances (audio), by Richard Cabut (Stewart Rayment)
Mania, by Lionel Shriver (Andrew Hudson)
The 51st State, by David Scott (Stewart Rayment)
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Why non-fiction books need their indexes
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap up
What should the Liberal Democrats stand for?
How many councillors has Reform UK lost since the May 2026 elections?
Ben Wood
Ed Sanderson
Jack
Matt (Bristol)
John Grout
12 Comments
I am shocked by the idea of having a tax just on pensioners to help pay for the NHS. If this was April 1st, I would see through it but it isn’t. Those who pay National Insurance all their working lives should not be expected to face an additional tax on retirement. Just a shocking suggestion.
Brenda – let me take a wild guess. You’re a pensioner?
Given that NI is effectively a form of income tax, it would be better to apply it universally to pensioners, the self-employed, landlords, those living off investments, etc. Or indeed scrap NI completely and make the basic rate 31% – someone can fact check my arithmetic there.
@Lyell Yardarms
Not a pensioner yet, but my parents are. After a lifetime of work they have quite a modest retirement but would end up paying this proposed tax on pensioners. In a country with millionaires all over the place, the idea of just targeting pensioners just seems so wrong.
What you need to remember is that many pensioners are asset rich and income poor. It is quite possible to be a millionaire (e.g. owning a small house in inner London) and be in deep poverty (defined by income). It is also possible for pensioners to have a lifestyle well beyond their income. You can’t take it with you so, if your savings go down each year, you can have an income of 20k and expenditure of 40k.
@Lyell the current combined rate is 28%. Before The pre-election bribes it was 32%. That would be a reasonable level.
What Peter Davies has written is very relevant. Pensioners who blithely took early retirement many years ago, perhaps with a golden handshake and some feeling of giving up a job worthily to younger people, may well discover in later life with the increased cost of living that they are indeed ‘asset-rich and income-poor’, and find they are having to draw on savings for their house and personal maintenance.
I am not sure if some commentators have read the article carefully. I would not expect all pensioners to pay 4%, only those with above average incomes, possibly starting at £20,000 pa. The trigger point could obviously be higher after a further and thorough consultation.
John Bryant is echoing William Tranby in suggesting charging pensioners a NHS tax on incomes as low as £20,000. If we look at what pensioners need to spend for a minimum, moderate or comfortable retirement (that is their net income after taxes plus their drawdown of savings) research shows that this level is below that required for a moderate retirement for a single pensioner household and below that required for a minimum retirement for a pensioner couple. This web site shows tables of the assumptions used and I suggest that those advocating taxation at this income level consider if they would argue that those expenditure assumptions are excessive. https://www.theprivateoffice.com/insights/average-retirement-income
“John Bryant is echoing William Tranby” – I’m shocked!
William Tranby suggests a tax for pensioners *earning* 20k plus. I don’t know if he meant that but if so that would be on top of their pension. Most pensioners with an income over £20k will not be eaning anything. He probably doesn’t mean it because he also confuses income and earnings elsewhere in the article.
Is it not time to take Labour apart? They have utterly failed and deserve to be consigned to history.
The article on defence by George Cunningham is worth reading. It argues well that we should be seeing a lot more action by the UK than we actually see. Action seems capped by fiscal limits. Or possibly it is limited by the bandwidth of the Oxford educated ultras in Whitehall. Who are currently arguing in other places that they should be reorganised along the lines proposed my Dominic Cummings.
Devolution and delegation seem out of fashion there. Trust the people ?