Darling admits there was 'no science' to his Budget

Chancellor Alistair Darling has admitted that there was ‘no science’ behind his decision to impose a 50% income tax on salaries over £150,000 in the Budget and could not promise that he would not make more changes to pensions.

Darling (pictured) when asked why he chose the £150,000 figure by MPs at a Treasury Select Committee meeting, said: ‘There was no science, just my judgement. I felt it was appropriate as it is the top 1%.’

When questioned on whether he had looked at other rates that might yield more tax, Darling replied: ‘I wanted to push it up as high as I could but did not want to increase tax for those on modest incomes.'

He added: ‘In present circumstances we need to take action and support our economy and I think this is fair thing to do.’

MPs said Darling had been accused of using the 50% tax rate for political manoeuvring which the chancellor did not accept.

‘It is a fair way of ensuring we raise revenue and that decision is mine and I stand by it,’ he said.

‘We still take a cautious view of how much we will raise. The yield from this measure raises a substantial revenue.’

On the tapering of pensions tax relief for those earning £150,000 to £180,000 the committee said that the government had broken long-standing rules and looked for assurance that pensions would not be tampered with again.

‘I do not want to, said Darling. ‘I can see the logic of aligning relief to the rate of income tax but if 25% of relief goes to 1% of top earners, that is not right.

‘I do not think it is unreasonable to tell people in the top percent they have to make a contribution.’