New state pensioners would have been handed approximately £121 less in 2026 if Prime Minister Andy Burnham's newly axed triple lock system had already been in place, according to calculations based on this year's pension increase.
Mr Burnham announced on Tuesday afternoon, during a Labour Party Conference speech in Liverpool, that the financial uprating for state pensions will be axed despite outcry among many older people, including the Express' campaign to save the triple lock. The triple lock will be swapped for a new system with the 'average earnings' element scrapped, moving closer to a 'double lock' system.
How the triple lock works
Currently, the triple lock is the system by which the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) must raise state pension payments every year. It means that pensions must rise by either wage growth, inflation or a flat 2.5%, whichever of the three is highest.
Though the final details of Mr Burnham's new plans have not yet been revealed, the new system will remove the average wage growth element, the PM announced. The changes will not be implemented until 2030, after the next election in 2029, and will be subject to parliamentary process before they can be implemented.
Impact on pensioners
In April 2026, state pensions were increased by wage growth, not inflation or the base 2.5%. It means that, if Mr Burnham's policy had been put in place this year, new post-2016 state pensioners would have been £121 worse off.
Because wage growth was 4.8%, it was the metric used to calculate the rise this year, rather than inflation which was only at 3.8%. New state pensioners were handed a confirmed 4.8% increase to their state pension pot from April, equalling £575, raising their weekly payment from £230.25 to £241.30, assuming they have a full qualifying National Insurance record.
However, if average wage growth was not used, it would have instead defaulted to inflation at 3.8%. This would have increased full new state pensions by only £454, £121 less than the wage growth increase.
Older state pensioners, who retired before 2016, are only eligible for the old basic state pension. They would also be handed less, at £365.36 extra per year. Whereas under the wage growth system, they were given approximately £460 extra this year.
Funding the National Care Service
Mr Burnham confirmed he wants to end the current pensions triple lock, which guarantees increases in line with the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5%, in order to free up cash to fund his long-held ambition of creating a NHS-style care service in England, called the National Care Service. He also said Labour will fight the next election with a commitment to change the first-past-the-post system used in Westminster contests.
Mr Burnham also set out the need for the UK to decide on its “long-term relationship” with the European Union, vowing to set out “options” for ties with Brussels around the major UK-EU summit later this year.
In an emotional speech, following the death of his father Roy earlier this month, Mr Burnham choked up as he said: “The United Kingdom my dad represented is the one I believe in.” But addressing delegates in Liverpool, he said: “This country isn’t where any of us would want it to be.”
Mr Burnham, who replaced Sir Keir Starmer in No 10 in July, claimed there was a “sense of the powers-that-be pulling against the people, not with them”. “If there’s one thing I want to put right, it’s that,” he said.
Taking aim at the changes introduced since the Thatcher administration in the 1980s, Mr Burnham said: “Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time. Deindustrialisation. Deregulation. Privatisation. Austerity. Brexit. And what has it given us? A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest.”
Holly Mackay, chief executive officer of Boring Money, has backed the government’s plans to tweak the triple lock on pensions to help pay for Prime Minister Andy Burnham's social care plans. She said: “Many politicians have kicked this explosive can down the road, but I welcome the Prime Minister’s bold decision to tackle it. Bluntly, the nation is pretty broke and we need to have more honest conversations about what is sustainable, what is fair and what we’re all willing to pay for. The Triple Lock is hugely divisive but it needs reform. State Pensions need to be protected from inflation but it is difficult to make the case that they should continue to increase by wage inflation and/or 2.5 per cent as well. This policy is unfair to younger generations, indeed many of our older readers acknowledge this generational unfairness and accept that the time for reform has come.”
