Worst fears about the triple lock have come true, but the pain could be about to get a lot deeper, writes Robert Jenrick
Robert Jenrick says the reasons given for cutting the triple lock are a ‘load of rubbish’ (Image: Getty)
It’s what Express readers rightly feared. Andy Burnham wants to cut your pension. Why on earth does he think pensioners should be the first to make sacrifices?
We didn’t hear a peep from Andy Burnham on cutting the ballooning benefits bill, cutting foreign aid to rich countries or stopping mad net zero subsidies. Instead, he’s decided to pick on pensioners on the state pension. People in receipt of £240 a week are apparently bankrupting the country. What a load of rubbish. It’s everything that’s wrong with Westminster. They just don’t get it.
I hate to break it to you, but I fear it’s going to get worse.
Burnham says this is necessary to fund a new social care system. But even Paul Johnson, the anti-triple lock former head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said this was “for the birds”.
Hitting pensioners will only get the Prime Minister 20% of what he needs.
To make his numbers add up, he’ll need £17billion more in taxes. Those went entirely unmentioned. Hardly the honesty he promised.
Coincidentally, £17billion is roughly the same amount as would be raised by a 10% death tax on every single person who dies. That would be a double whammy on pensioners.
Needless to say, Reform have the backs of Express readers and will fight this all the way. We would make different choices.
We save £80billion every single year by cutting waste – 13 times as much as abolishing the triple lock saves.
We would use some of the savings to keep the triple lock and increase the tax-free Personal Allowance to £15,000. That helps almost everyone in Britain – workers and pensioners alike. It would also keep the state pension out of income tax altogether.
No one is denying that difficult choices must be made. And no one, least of all me, is satisfied with the present state of the social care system.
But Britain’s state pension is still one of the lowest in the developed world, even after 15 years of the triple lock. £240 a week is their reward for a lifetime of hard work and contributions to society.
It does not fund a luxurious existence. Why on earth would this meagre payment be the first place Andy Burnham chooses to look for savings?
Reform will do the opposite of Andy Burnham and make the choices that put the British people first. We’ll be on your side instead.