conservatives

European Parliament has given the green light for Lord Jonathan Hill to be European Union (EU) financial services commissioner, despite facing tough questioning from sceptical MEPs.

An offshore financier who is the brother-in-law of financial services minister Andrea Leadsom has donated £816,000 to the Conservative party since she first successfully ran for parliament at the last election.

Tory pressure group Renewal has proposed scrapping the 40p higher rate of income tax and replacing it with a 45p rate for some earners.

Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to continue cutting taxes for what he calls the "hardworking people in our country".

It is "certainly possible" that the coalition government - the power-sharing arrangement between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties in place since 2010 - could break up before the next general election in 2015, Vince Cable has said.

A ‘mansion tax' on all homes worth more than £2m would cost the owners as much as £36,000 a year on average, according to Whitehall analysis.

State pensions will face a cap under Labour should the party win the next election, shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said.

The Association of Christian Financial Advisers (ACFA) says extending marriage "beyond its traditional boundaries" could create confusion for pension trustees and advisers.

In this week's quick fire Retirement Planner poll we ask: Did Margaret Thatcher's government leave behind a positive pensions legacy?

Labour has been accused of playing "cynical party games" ahead of a House of Commons debate and vote on plans for a ‘mansion tax'.