The SNP has urged the UK government to scrap its plans to abolish the lifetime pensions allowance.
The party slammed the move as “another Tory-made keep the rich rich scheme”.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Budget on Wednesday that it was scrapping the lifetime allowance on pensions in an attempt to prevent doctors from retiring.
The removal of the allowance will see the wealthiest one per cent of pensioners save around £45,000 when they retire according to SNP analysis.
At the same time, the Government did not announce an extension to the £67-a-month Energy Bill Support Scheme.
The SNP's Social Justice spokesperson David Linden said that the Chancellor’s budget has left the UK economy in “dire straits”.
Independent economic reviewer the Office for Budget Responsibility said that the UK is set to suffer the biggest fall in living standards since the 1950s.
This is because disposable income per person is set to fall by six per cent over the next two years.
Linden said that the Government was helping the wealthy while failing to support working-class people.
He said: “This latest budget is just another example of a Tory-made keep the rich rich scheme.
“The decision to abolish the lifetime pension allowance will only benefit the richest in our society.
“Meanwhile, decisions which would actually help working class households – like reducing energy bills, maintaining the energy bill support scheme, failing to scrap the benefits cap or two cap – have all been completely ignored.
“However, this is what we’ve come to expect from this outdated, redundant, corrupt UK government.
“Scotland is an energy-rich country with an abundance of potential, but while under Westminster control we continue to fall behind our G7 counterparts leaving our economy in dire straits.
“The SNP will continue to do everything we can to support households across Scotland, but only with the full fiscal powers independence will bring can we deliver the real change people need to tackle this Tory-made cost of living crisis.”
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