to increase the personal tax allowance for pensioners if they win the general election. they say the proposal would be worth £275 a year to each pensioner by the end of the decade. under the plans, the state pension would always remain below the tax free threshold. rishi sunak says the scheme shows the conservatives are on the side of pensioners but labour have called it desperate . rishi sunak will be out campaigning in the midlands today. let s get more on this with nick eardley. what do you love about it? how do you win over older voters? it s a question politicians ask themselves a lot. pensioners tend to get out and vote. so today, an offer from the conservatives, that the basic state pension will never be liable for income tax. the simple fact is that this tax change, this triple lock plus, will mean going forward that millions of pensioners, eight million pensioners, in fact, will be paying less tax than they would otherwise be paying. and that is clearly a tax cut
the chancellor, jeremy hunt, is meeting business groups this lunchtime to discuss what help they ll get with their energy bills when the current support scheme ends at the end of march. gas and electricity prices have been fixed for companies, but many want that support to continue. our business editor, simonjack is here. so, they are meeting now. what are we expecting to come out of the meeting? we expecting to come out of the meetin: ? , . , we expecting to come out of the meetin: ? , .,, , we expecting to come out of the meetin: ? , ., , ., ., meeting? this has been one of the bi est meeting? this has been one of the biggest worries meeting? this has been one of the biggest worries for meeting? this has been one of the biggest worries for business - meeting? this has been one of the. biggest worries for business groups. what happens to their energy bills after march 2023, in three months time? unlike households, which have seen the support extended, albeit at a lower rate, they