On behalf of millions of state pensioners the Prime Minister could put an end to the speculation over the future of the Triple Lock this year and honour the Conservatives manifesto promise to keep the Lock in place for the duration of this Parliament.
We are still in the middle of a cost of living crisis, with energy and food prices rising much faster than the 8.5 per cent prospective pension rise due next April under the Triple Lock.
Any change in the way the Triple Lock is calculated, to make savings this year, will be regarded by older people as a breach of promise and a reverse turn on the system altogether.
It’s vital to retain the very mechanism that was designed for today’s and tomorrow’s older people, to ensure they have a decent pension and essential services.
As millions of pensioners are spending a larger proportion of their meagre income on energy and food bills, many are on the brink. So Mr Sunak, tell the country that you will implement the Triple Lock increase in full this year, on the basis of the existing formula.
The debate around the Triple Lock may continue, but omits one vital fact, that the UK has the lowest state pension in the developed world, according to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development study in 2017. The Triple Lock addresses that. Far from being a runaway train, as some MPs suggest, if the Triple Lock continues, it would eventually, after time, have the effect of dragging the UK’s poverty pensions up to the European average.
Rodney Sadd
Crowland
