Andy Burnham has said he WILL end the triple lock, a vow Carole Malone describes as tantamount to electoral suicide. In a scathing opinion piece, she labels the move a "spiteful, morally-corrupt, kamikaze act" by a Prime Minister who lacks the guts to cut benefits for the "feckless and the lazy" but instead targets society's most vulnerable people.
Malone argues that no decent government can target the elderly to make savings, warning that millions of pensioners could be dragged back to the days when those relying solely on the state pension couldn't afford to heat their homes, leading to strokes, hypothermia, and respiratory illness. She reminds readers that before 2010, the UK's state pension was one of the worst in the developed world, having plummeted to just 16% of average earnings after three decades of price-only indexing.
The Earnings Link and Political Fallout
Malone highlights that the part of the triple lock Burnham intends to cut is the link to average earnings, which she says plunged the elderly into abject poverty. She recalls Gordon Brown's "bumper 75p a week pension rise" as an insult to pensioners, claiming Labour's attitude toward the elderly hasn't changed.
Quoting Burnham's conference speech, Malone cites his acceptance that he "may have to pay the political price," but questions why he isn't "ripping the plaster off" with benefit scroungers or those scamming free cars and houses. She challenges why he is forcing pain on those least able to take it.
Cost Concerns and Comparisons
While acknowledging the triple lock is expensive, Malone argues the government can afford it if it can spend £407billion on the benefits budget, £4billion a year housing illegal immigrants, and pay for the lifestyles of foreign criminals and terrorists. She claims Burnham's plan to fund social care through the cut won't work, citing John Redwood's estimate that it will raise no more than £2billion.
Malone challenges Burnham and his cabinet colleagues, including Angela Rayner, to live on £12,400 a year—about £240 a week—saying it wouldn't cover their expenses for fancy restaurants and expensive wines.
Pensioner Poverty and Voting Power
Malone notes that the Retirement Living Standards Index sets basic living costs at around £13,400 a year for a single person, yet many single pensioners exist on £9,615 because they're on the older Basic State Pension system. She states that nearly 25% of all pensioners exist on the state pension and nothing else.
She argues that pensioners can fight back with their vote, warning they will hammer the government in local elections and kick them out at the general election. Malone concludes that the state pension is an entitlement for those who have paid into the system, and it should be the government's shame that the UK spends the lowest on pensioners in the G7 apart from Canada.
