By Elliot Gulliver-Needham
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed today that the pensions triple lock will be renewed if the Conservatives win the next election.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday morning, Hunt said that while the policy was “very expensive”, the party had “made that commitment to pensioners and we think it’s a very important one”.
“You can only make that commitment if you’re confident that you’re going to deliver the economic growth that’s going to pay for it,” he added.
The news comes after he suggested to the House of Lords this week that the triple lock was “under review”, leading to speculation that the party may be looking to drop the pledge.
Since being introduced in 2012, the state pension has risen each April to match whichever is highest between inflation, average wage increases or 2.5 per cent.
This year, it will be following average earnings as it rises 8.5 per cent, after a 10.1 per cent increase last year which matched inflation.
Speaking to the Economic Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Hunt said that whether the triple lock was sustainable depended on whether the country was able to improve productivity and growth.
“If we are able to run public services more efficiently, if we are able to increase our long-term growth rate, then it is entirely possible we can continue to have the levels of public provision we currently have, and the support for pensioners, and I very much hope that is the case,” he said.
In his interview with the BBC, Hunt argued that pensioners were better off now than they were under Labour due to policies like the triple lock.
Meanwhile, Labour chair Anneliese Dodds refused to give a commitment to the triple lock on Sunday, stating that all of the party’s proposals will be set out in their manifesto.
She added that she didn’t want Labour to be restricted by “that £46bn black hole that unfortunately Jeremy Hunt has threatened” with his proposed National Insurance changes.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told the BBC that he was not surprised by Hunt’s pledge on Sunday, due to the vital role that pensioners play in the Tory voting bloc.
However, Johnson warned: “It can’t go on forever and they need to give an indication to when they want it to stop.”
