BORIS Johnson has been urged to make a “cast-iron commitment” to maintaining the triple lock on UK pensions amid reports that Treasury officials are hoping to pause the policy.
Introduced in 2010, the “triple lock” uses three measures of inflation to ensure that the real terms value of people’s pensions does not change despite outside economic pressures.
Speaking to Andrew Neil last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that the triple lock remained government policy.
However, reports in The Sunday Times say that the Treasury is privately working on a plan to limit pension rises for a year, postponing the triple lock and saving the UK Government £4 billion.
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Sunak has reportedly told the Prime Minister that pensioners should be made to share in the sacrifices made by the younger generations through the Covid pandemic. However, Boris Johnson disagrees.
The SNP have urged the Prime Minister to clarify his position, giving pensioners a firm commitment the triple lock on their pensions will remain in place.
The party’s David Linden (above), the MP for Glasgow East, said the Prime Minister must overrule Sunak and make clear the Tory government will not break “yet another” manifesto commitment.
Linden, the SNP’s shadow work and pensions spokesperson, continued: "Boris Johnson must rule out this Tory threat to pensions - by giving a cast-iron commitment that the UK Government will maintain the triple lock and increase pensions in line with earnings.
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"After a decade of Tory austerity cuts, millions of pensioners are living in poverty. It is essential that the Prime Minister overrules the Chancellor, and ring-fences the money needed to increase the state pension, to avoid breaking yet another Tory manifesto commitment.
"The UK has one of the lowest state pensions in the developed world and Tory policies, such as cutting pension credit, ending the free TV licence and betraying WASPI women, have damaged older people's interests and seen pensioner poverty rise to the highest level in years.
“Scotland will always be vulnerable under Westminster control. It's clear the only way to keep Scotland safe from Tory attacks on pensions is to become an independent country, with the full powers needed to protect pensioners and build a strong, fair and equal recovery."
A UK Government spokesperson reiterated that the government was committed to the triple lock, but also left a door open for Treasury officials to pause the policy.
They said: "The government is committed to the Pensions Triple Lock. There is still significant uncertainty around the trajectory of average earnings and whether there will be a spike as forecasted. Our focus is to ensure fairness for both pensioners and taxpayers.”
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