Sunak's triple lock pension promise slammed by Portillo

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Lisa Ray, General Secretary of the Civil Service Pensioner’s Alliance and Partner of Later Life Ambitions, has said any plans to remove the financial safety net will have a “devastating impact” on the lives of Britain’s oldest generation. The Chancellor is considering breaking a manifesto commitment to increase pensions by 2.5 percent, the rate of inflation, or average earnings, whichever is highest.

The latest figures reveal wages grew by more than eight percent in the three months to June – meaning pensions could rise by more than £700 next April.

Downing Street has this week given its biggest indication yet that the triple lock will be cancelled after a Number 10 spokesman voiced concerns over “artificially inflated earnings”.

Amid the growing uncertainly, Ms Ray warned around 700,000 people could be plunged into poverty if pensions do not increase in line with inflation.

She told Express.co.uk: “It is expected that removing the triple lock would push 700,000 pensioners into poverty.

“The removal would disproportionately impact women, who may be more reliant on the state pension after stopping work to care for children.

“With the cost of living soaring, we cannot return to a time where pensioners are struggling to make ends meet.”

For those who reached state pension age after April 6, 2016, the full state pension is £179.60 a week – an eight percent rise would increase this to £194.

Anyone who was state pension age before that date is entitled to the full basic pension of £137.60 a week – an eight percent increase would see this rise by around £11 per week.

Ms Ray insisted a rise of eight percent “is still relatively small in cash terms” and cited a 2017 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study, which ranked the UK’s pension lowest out of other major nations.

She added: “Removing the triple lock will have a devastating impact on our pensioners.

“The triple lock was introduced to address the long-term decline in the value of the state pension relative to earnings.

“Unfortunately, this is still necessary as the UK has the lowest state pension relative to earnings across 36 industrialised countries, according to the OECD study in 2017, which means that an increase of 8.8 percent is still relatively small in cash terms.”

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed average earnings rose by 7.4 percent (excluding bonuses) and 8.8 percent (including bonuses) from April to June 2021.

The sharp rise has been attributed to the economy bouncing back from the coronavirus pandemic.

Britons returning to their jobs and coming off furlough has been a major factor in the wage spike.

A rise of around eight percent is estimated to cost the Treasury around £3billion more than previously expected, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

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A Downing Street spokesman has insisted “no decisions have been made” on the triple lock.

He added: “We recognise the legitimate concerns about potentially artificially inflated earnings impacting the uprating of pensions.

“Any decision on future changes to the triple lock will be taken at the appropriate time based on the latest data.

“And of course we will continue to support older people while ensuring future decisions are fair for both pensioners and taxpayers.”
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