Reform UK leader rips into PM over plans to change the triple lock
Nigel Farage blasts Andy Burnham over triple lock (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage has erupted at Andy Burnham over plans to scrap the triple lock. The Prime Minister announced that he would tweak the policy – which sees the state pension rise each year by average earnings, inflation or 2% – after the next general election to help pay for his social care reforms.
But Reform UK leader Mr Farage said: “By potentially scrapping the triple lock, Andy Burnham will abdicate his responsibility to British pensioners.
“Instead of cutting our bloated benefits bill, stopping migrants from accessing benefits, or slashing foreign aid, he’s considering launching an offensive against our elderly.
“If he is so desperate to pick a fight with pensioners, he should get on with it, call a general election now, and let the public decide.
“Reform UK will always protect our pensioners and maintain the triple lock.”
Andy Burnham has announced changes to the triple lock at the next election (Image: Getty)
In his Labour conference speech, Mr Burnham said pensions would rise either by CPI inflation, or a minimum of 2.5% which would generate “significant savings” and remove the link to average earnings.
He said it would hold its value “relative” to earnings “over time”.
Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said: “It’s official: Andy Burnham wants to cut your pension.
“It’s just mean. Why is it always pensioners who are asked to be the first to make sacrifices?
“We didn’t hear a peep from Burnham on cutting the benefits bill, foreign aid or net zero subsidies.
“But that’s not all. Burnham said he was being honest but what he didn’t say was there was a gaping black hole in his numbers.
“Hitting pensioners will only get him 20% of what he needs. He’ll need £17 billion more in taxes.
“Coincidentally, £17bn is the same amount as levying a 10% death tax on every single person who dies. It’s a double whammy on pensioners.
“Reform will make different choices. We’ll be on your side instead.”
It comes as the PM is pledging to create a National Care Service which he described as a “landmark policy”.
He said: “There is only one real answer: a person-centred, high-quality care service that starts in the home.
“A system in the best traditions of this party, where everyone contributes and everyone is covered, free at the point of use, and no care charges paid out of your basic state pension.
“Care that is about people, not profit, which gives peace of mind over care needs in later life, which protects people’s homes and their savings, and gives proper recognition to the care workers we will all need to rely on at some point in our lives.”
He continued: “We are going to do it. A landmark policy as significant as the creation of the NHS itself, and utterly essential to securing its future.
“NHS savings from fewer ambulance call-outs, A&E admissions and vulnerable people being stuck unnecessarily in hospital, we will start laying the ground now for the National Care Service and introduce it in the next Parliament.”
Support our campaign to protect the triple lock
The Daily Express has a long-running campaign to protect the triple lock.
The policy – which sees the state pension rise by the highest out of earnings growth, inflation and 2.5% – is a lifeline for many pensioners surviving on modest incomes.
This newspaper launched our Save Our Pension Triple Lock crusade in 2022, calling on all political parties to back the measure.
At the last General Election in 2024, all the main parties committed to keeping the triple lock in a major victory.
As fresh questions swirl around the policy’s long-term future, we will continue the campaign to keep it in place.
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