Pensions minister ‘fully committed’ to triple lock despite previous criticism
New pensions minister Torsten Bell is “fully committed” to the triple lock that safeguards the value of state retirement payouts despite having previously criticised it and called for it to be ditched, a frontbench colleague has insisted.
Baroness Sherlock said comments made by Mr Bell in the past had been as “a private individual” when he was boss of a think tank.
The work and pensions minister moved to reassure peers in Parliament on the future of the triple lock guarantee after it emerged that when head of the Resolution Foundation, Mr Bell had branded the policy “messy”, “rubbish” and urged its replacement.
The Swansea West MP took up his Government role earlier this month in a mini-reshuffle after Tulip Siddiq was forced to quit.
Means-testing
It comes after Tory leader Kemi Badenoch sparked controversy in suggesting the party may consider means-testing state pensions, leading to accusations she wanted to weaken the triple lock.
The mechanism ensures payouts rise each year in line with inflation, earnings or by 2.5% – whichever is higher.
It is aimed at preventing the value of pensions being whittled away by cost of living pressures.
Speaking at Westminster, Lady Sherlock said: “Our commitment to the triple lock for the entirety of this Parliament will mean spending on people’s state pensions is forecast to rise by over £31 billion.
“As a result the yearly state pension will have increased by up to £1,900 by the end of the Parliament.
“Protecting the triple lock even in the current economic climate shows our commitment to pensions.”
Concern
But pressing the minister, former DUP deputy leader Lord Dodds of Duncairn said: “Does she understand the concern that there may be among many recipients of the state pension concerning the long-term future of the triple lock given a number of recent developments.
“First, the appointment of a pensions minister who has described the triple lock as ‘silly’, as ‘messy’, as something that needs to be replaced.
“And then we have the leader of the opposition who said last week that her party wants to explore greater means testing of government support and that has given rise to some speculation on this issue.
“Many pensioners have already suffered as a result of the loss of the winter fuel allowance, which came completely out of the blue, it was not in manifesto.
“And given the level of state pension in the UK is one of the lowest in the developed economies of the world relative to average earnings, can the minister give a long-term commitment on the triple lock that as long as her party is in power it will remain?”
Responding, Lady Sherlock said: “I am certainly not going to answer for the leader of the opposition.”
She added: “We have a manifesto commitment that the triple lock will hold for the entirety of this Parliament. That is a huge commitment.”
She went on: “In relation to my colleague the minister for pensions Torsten Bell, the comments that he made were made obviously when he was a private individual and the head of a think tank and the heads of think tanks, it’s their job to think big ideas and to talk about them.
“However, I can assure the House that minister Bell, along with me, is fully committed to the triple lock and the Government’s commitment to it and I hope the nation’s pensioners will be delighted to hear that as a result.”
Poverty
Liberal Democrat Baroness Janke said: “Does the minister agree that to abandon the triple lock guarantee would plunge the poorest of pensioners into even deeper poverty and inflict hardship on many others who do not have the security of generous additional pensions?”
Lady Sherlock said: “This Government is committed to the triple lock for the entirety of this Parliament and I am glad to be able to confirm that again today.”
Labour former minister Lord Foulkes of Cumnock said: “Her confirmation today that the Labour Government will keep the triple lock for the whole of the Parliament is the best news for pensioners.”
Lady Sherlock said: “I am very glad to be able to give him that news, especially on his birthday. What better present could he possibly get?”
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The state pension system is a ponzi scheme at the end of the day. You need more people putting in than taking out and with our demographic crisis, this is going to worsen the situation. I think people don’t realise how expensive the triple lock system is and how more of oir national budget is going to be eaten up by pensions. Short to Medium term fixes are: 1) Increasing state pension to 70 in the next 2 decades instead of 68. 2) as the IFS state remove the 2.5% yearly increase in the triple lock and match pension rises… Read more »
Have you looked at the figures relating health status of >65s?
We can’t afford pensions and Brexit so how about abolishing the artificial retirement date which takes no account of how hard people have worked, and replace it with a fitness for work test only pensioning people off when they are no longer productive. This will go a long way to fixing the productivity puzzle and making a success of Brexit.