Hunt’s pensions tax break expected to help ‘nearly as many bankers as doctors’

Head of Resolution Foundation says other measures to retain NHS staff could have offered better value for money

Jeremy Hunt’s pensions tax break for the highest 1% of savers in Britain stands to benefit almost as many bankers as doctors, an economist has said, as the government insisted the budget giveaway was designed to cut NHS waiting lists.

On a day of renewed pressure over the £1bn giveaway, Rishi Sunak argued that scrapping the tax-free lifetime allowance on pensions would encourage more doctors to stay in employment rather than taking retirement.