Campaigners have warned Chancellor John Healey that Labour would “pay a huge electoral price” for any “betrayal” of pensioners over the triple lock pledge. The warning came after Mr Healey failed to reassure older people that the triple lock was safe under Prime Minister Andy Burnham during a major speech about economic growth on Monday.
Silver Voices demands immediate reassurance
Dennis Reed, director of over-50s campaign group Silver Voices, said: “We demand that Labour reiterates its support for the triple lock immediately as the Chancellor implied in his answers that he supported the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) call to scrap the lock.
“If this is the case, it would be a betrayal of repeated pledges to the 13million pensioners in this country and Labour will pay a huge electoral price, dwarfing the damage caused by the winter fuel fiasco.
“It is sad that our Chancellor thinks so little of older people in this country that he is not prepared to rebut the myths that the triple lock is unsustainable and a barrier to growth. Growth depends on getting more money into people's pockets, not squeezing them even further.”
Triple lock costs and business pressure
The triple lock means the state pension will rise by whichever is highest between 2.5%, inflation or wage growth. The yearly cost of the policy is forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility to reach £15.5billion extra every year by 2030.
The BCC, which represents more than 65,000 firms employing 7.4million workers, said abandoning the triple lock and instead raising the state pension by inflation each year could save the Exchequer £3.3billion over two years.
The BCC's call to scrap the triple lock is notable because its president, Andy Haldane, was one of Mr Burnham's economic advisers during his campaign to become Prime Minister. Lord O'Neill, another former adviser to Mr Burnham, has also urged the Prime Minister to rethink the triple lock.
Government insists it is committed
Mr Burnham's spokesman was forced to insist on Monday that the Government is “committed” to the policy soon after Mr Healey's first key speech as Chancellor when he refused to confirm if it was safe.
When Mr Healey was asked by a journalist whether it was time to replace the triple lock to help support young people, he said: “On the BCC, I agree with them what they were saying about youth unemployment. You heard me talk about it today — a scar, a blight on the future of those million young people but on the potential of this country.
“And we have to fix it. It cannot be right that we write off a young generation in that way. And so, Alan Milburn is doing important work. We'll base our plans on his full recommendations. But as the Prime Minister has said, there is a need to bring down welfare costs, and most important for me, we have to get more of Britain working again.”
Opposition parties commit to the lock
The Conservatives and Reform UK have both committed to the triple lock. Helen Whately, the Tories' Shadow Pensions Secretary, said: "The Chancellor has only fuelled speculation on tax rises and the future of the triple lock. He should have said he'll cut welfare and taxes. Instead he's just added to the worries of hard-working people and pensioners. Once again it looks like Labour is coming after them."
She added: “We introduced the triple lock and remain committed to it."
