[...] while it makes sense to protect state pensions, better-off pensioners could contribute more through the tax system. But the politics of this are fraught--when George Osborne announced the end of the extra tax-free allowance for those aged over 65, it was instantly condemned as a 'granny tax'. Other proposals that might affect better-off pensioners often face objections where some low-income pensioners who would be affected are held up in front of them as a kind of political and fiscal human shield.