Tories would have to raise state pension age above 70 to keep triple lock, says minister
Kemi Badenoch attacked reforms but is not being clear about how party would meet costs, Torsten Bell claims Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives would have to raise the state pension age above 70 to meet the cost of keeping the triple lock, Treasury minister Torsten Bell has claimed. Labour has announced reforms to the triple-lock promise to come into force in the next parliament – with the initial…
Treasury minister Torsten Bell claims Kemi Badenoch's Conservative party would need to raise the state pension age above 70 to afford keeping the triple lock, a policy that would see the pension rise annually in line with inflation, 2.5% or earnings growth. The Conservatives have attacked Labour's plan to reform the triple-lock promise, which is set to begin in the next parliament, and insists they would maintain the current policy.
However, Bell argues that the costs of an unreformed triple lock could reach £50bn by 2050, requiring the Tories to accelerate planned increases to the state pension age, similar to their approach in the 2010s. He cites past instances where the Conservatives accelerated state pension age increases with little notice, such as between 2011 and 2014.
Bell warns that the Conservatives' opposition to reforming the triple lock could result in further increases into people's 70s. Labour's reforms, which will see the state pension rise each year by the highest of inflation, 2.5%, or earnings growth, if the value has fallen behind recent wage growth, have been met with resistance from the Conservatives.
Bell suggests the public would prefer Labour's willingness to make an argument over the Conservatives' apparent dishonesty on the issue.
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