If he wins the election, the PM will pledge to keep the Tory Party’s manifesto.
If Rishi Sunak wins the next elections, he will keep the triple lock on pensions. This will make sure that payments keep pace with the cost of living for millions of people in the UK until the end of this decade.
The Tory Party manifesto will commit the Prime Minister to maintain the policy of increasing state pensions in line with the highest of earnings, prices, or 2.5% per year.
A Conservative source stated: “The Triple Lock is a Conservative Party invention, it has been in each Conservative Party manifesto ever since we introduced it, and we will commit again to it.”
Jeremy Hunt is preparing to present his final Budget prior to the next elections.
The state pension is expected to increase by 8.5% in April. It will reach £221.20 per week, based on earnings.The policy has been criticized by economists as being unsustainable and costly.
Rachel Reeves suggested that the Labour Party would retain this policy as well if they were elected. “The main difference between retirement and working age is the difficulty of increasing your income when you are retired. “I think it’s important to have stability and the certainty that you can increase your income,” she told reporters on Wednesday.
Although Ms Reeves stated that it was “not the time and place” to speculate if the policy would be in Labour’s manifesto she added: “We have always supported the triple locking.”
Paul Maynard, the minister of pensions, said that millions of retirees rely on state pensions as a safety net. He said: “I would like to make sure that the state pension is the basis of retirement income for future generations, in a sustainable and fair way.
The triple lock was introduced by this government to achieve that goal. Since 2011, we have lifted 200,000 elderly people from poverty. The full rate of state pension will rise to £11500 by April. This is an important additional income for hardworking pensioners.
“We’re taking long-term decisions to build a better future for millions of people – one which delivers for pensioners today and tomorrow.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the OECD repeatedly urged that the Tories abandon their “unsustainable” policies.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that the cost of funding state pensions could increase by up to £45bn in the next few decades if pledges are maintained.
Peter Lilley, former secretary for work and pensions, called it unaffordable.
He said: It is absurd that pensioners get a raise when wages and prices are not increasing.
Lord Turnbull, former head of civil service, described the policy as “daft but extraordinarily difficult to eliminate”.
Mr Hunt will likely raid his war chest to finance pre-election taxes, leaving little room for him to reach a goal to reduce debt within five years.
Ms Reeves criticized Mr Hunt for “maxing-out” his headroom and suggested that the party would look to increase its insurance policy against financial shocks.
She said, “You don’t have to max out. The other Chancellors, Osborne or Hammond or Gordon, never looked at the options available for year five, and said, “We’ll get all that.” Fiscal rules are not the issue. “It’s the way the Chancellor interprets the rules.”
Ms Reeves said that Mr Hunt and the Tories “burned the house down”, instead of following up on George Osborne’s promise to “fix roof”.
She did, however, suggest that she would not reverse the tax cuts Tory families received, even if this meant further squeezing departmental budgets.
Ms Reeves stated: “I believe that workers would benefit more from having their own money, especially in this time of cost of living crisis.”
Harriett BALDER, Conservative Chairman of Treasury Select Committee and Triple Lock advocate, said that the “state pension has grown so much over the years.”
She said: “From a political perspective, there are no benefits to moving away from triple locking. It’s a very popular policy.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions stated: “We don’t speculate on manifesto promises.”