Osborne planning tax cut for workers

There are expectations that George Osborne will raise the level at which national insurance is paid
There are expectations that George Osborne will raise the level at which national insurance is paid
ANTHONY DEVLIN/PA

George Osborne is preparing his own raid on pension savings to fund a pre-election tax cut for workers, senior Labour figures fear.

Labour is braced for a giveaway budget in less than two weeks’ time with many in the party expecting the chancellor to raise the level at which national insurance is paid — equivalent to an income tax cut for most people. This would damage Ed Miliband’s claim that poor households are failing to benefit from the economic recovery, say shadow cabinet sources.

Labour fears over the budget came as the potential scale of the party’s rout in Scotland became clear. Gordon Brown’s seat of Kirkcaldy — the fourth safest in the House of Commons with a 23,000 majority — could be won by