Ex-Tory spinner reveals Treasury secrets and techniques | Politics | News | EUROtoday

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Treasury officers “absolutely hate” the triple lock and wish to do away with it fully, an ex-Tory aide revealed.

Civil servants additionally repeatedly pushed for the winter gas allowance to be means-tested for years earlier than Rachel Reeves agreed to it.

Former adviser Cameron Brown confirmed that the Treasury has an inventory of measures it places earlier than new Chancellors as methods they’ll lower your expenses.

Speaking to The Division Bell Podcast, he stated: “The list exists, I’ve seen it, it would make your blood run cold, the options on it.

“They are not masochists, they are just very mild mannered lovely individuals that are civil servants in the Treasury.

“They have a list of policies they instinctively hate.

“Whenever there’s a new chancellor and the chancellor says ‘I want you to produce a list of policies that we can announce in the budget, they always dust off this list their favoured tax changes or spending changes.

“Right at the top of it is increasing fuel duty because they hate the fact that we have frozen fuel duty now for I think now 13 years in a row, which is fantastic for drivers but for the Treasury it’s just like we have lost billions and billions of pounds and they want the money.

“Second, of course, is the winter fuel payments, making that means tested and that was always put to us as an option to save money.

“Why on earth would we ever do that because you have this cliff edge problem that we have now where a pensioner on £12,000 a year is going to lose £300 over the winter period.

“And the last amongst them, of course, is just getting rid of the triple lock completely.

“The Treasury hates that, it absolutely hates it.

“The Treasury officials don’t like it because it goes up and up and up constantly regardless of the wider economic situation.

“It’s a very, very expensive policy. But you know what? Pensioners can’t change jobs or start work; they have no other option.

“For many of them, this is their only source of income. So I think it’s right that we protect it. “But the Treasury are not fans.”

One of Ms Reeves’ first acts as Chancellor was to means-test the winter gas allowance, stripping 10 million pensioners of their funds of as much as £300.

She confirmed the triple lock on state pensions will stay, which implies pensions go up by a minimum of 2.5%, inflation or common earnings.

It means from April, funds will go up by 4.1%, which quantities to £470 a yr for these on the total new state pension.

Mr Brown labored for Kwasi Kwarteng when he was chancellor and carried out the mini-budget earlier than happening to advise successor Jeremy Hunt.

The former aide instructed how he had “deep political concerns” in regards to the mini-budget however his job had been to provide media recommendation.

He stated Mr Hunt had “picked up the pieces” and put the economic system again on a sound footing however the affect on the occasion’s popularity was nonetheless being felt.

For extra, you’ll be able to hearken to The Division Bell on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1969965/ex-tory-spinner-reveals-treasury-secrets