Keeping the Triple Lock

It is my view that the state pensions triple lock must be retained, although from the next parliament onwards I would like to see the earnings element of the guarantee based on an index rather than a year-on-year change.

That is so that pensioners can be still assured that their incomes will not fall behind wages as happened in the past under Labour, before the Triple Lock was introduced, but to avoid a ratchet effect which could be unfair to the current working population, especially the younger generation, many of whom have done badly out of the world economic events of the last fifteen years (since the crash of 2007.)

There have been siren voices pointing out that some pensioners are millionaires and asking why they are protected. Millions of pensioners who are dependent on the state pension are very far from being millionaires and they are entitled to the protection for their pensions which was promised at the last election. And most of them have spent decades paying tax and National Insurance part of which was to fund the pension system, so they have a moral right to get back what they were promised when they paid those taxes. 

So I was pleased that yesterday the government confirmed that they will keep the Triple Lock in place, honouring our 2019 manifesto commitment and supporting pensioners with the cost of living.

  • As a Government and a Party, we have consistently protected UK pensioners. That is why we introduced the ‘triple lock’ and committed to keep this in our 2019 manifesto. We have also acted to support people with their energy bills and made sure that vulnerable pensioners get the most generous support.
  • We were elected on the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto and will honour our commitment to keep the ‘triple lock’ on pensions until the end of this Parliament.
  • To put the public finances on a sustainable footing – we will publish a credible, transparent, fully costed plan to get debt falling as a share of the economy over the medium term on 31 October based on the judgements and forecasts of the independent OBR.



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