Reform UK-linked thinktank urges scrapping of UK state pension

The Centre for a Better Britain (CFABB), a thinktank linked to Reform UK, has published a 183-page report titled "Boosting Britain" calling for the abolition of the state pension along with £75bn worth of tax cuts. The report is due to be formally launched Wednesday at a private event attended by City executives.

The document proposes scrapping several taxes that mainly affect wealthy Britons, including capital gains tax and inheritance tax, as well as stamp duty on property and shares, the digital services tax, and air passenger duty. It also calls for cutting corporation tax from 25% to 15% over eight years.

CFABB was founded and is led by Jonathan Brown, a former chief operations officer of Reform UK. He told reporters the state pension functions essentially like a Ponzi scheme, with current workers unfairly funding today's retirees. In its place, the report proposes Trump-style "lifetime investment accounts," which would give newborns a £1,000 starter payment, with holders later contributing up to 15% of their earnings. The state pension would remain only as a means-tested safety net for the poorest.

The report stresses that any tax cuts would need to be offset by reduced public spending to avoid market turmoil similar to that triggered by Liz Truss's government, though it does not lay out a detailed plan for matching savings. One suggested option is closing the public pension scheme to newly hired teachers and civil servants.

The report's release comes weeks before Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government is set to unveil its first budget. CFABB's offices are based at Millbank Tower, near Reform UK's headquarters, though the thinktank says the party has not yet reviewed its work, and its funding sources remain undisclosed. Its former advisory board chair, James Orr, was recently suspended from Reform UK after undercover footage appeared to show him helping to circumvent election rules on foreign donations.