Cutting tax relief on pension contributions for higher earners, we are told, would fit with the new Tory mantra of “levelling up” the country. Not so. Reducing the size of the average pension pot and making more people reliant on the state in retirement is levelling down. It’s not aspirational, it undermines personal responsibility, and I don’t believe any Conservative chancellor, no matter how big his party’s majority, would ever do it. The system is too embedded, the political fallout would be toxic and the practical cost for businesses (not just for savers)

is too great.

Even George Osborne — who as chancellor so loved to chip away at the pensions system — wasn’t brave enough to tackle this troublesome issue.

That said, I suspect