Streeting says pensions triple lock would be ‘here to stay’ if he was PM

David Lynch – PA Political Correspondent

The triple lock on the state pension would be “here to stay for the entirety of this Parliament” under a Wes Streeting-led Government, the potential Labour leadership contender has said.

Mr Streeting’s prospective leadership rival Andy Burnham has said it would be “very damaging” to break Labour’s manifesto commitment to the triple lock, which protects the rate at which the state pension rises.

Progressive think tank the Resolution Foundation last week warned that the triple lock is not affordable over the long term and is unfair to the working population.

It recommended replacing the policy with a different mechanism for protecting the earnings of pensioners.

Asked if he was committed to the triple lock, Mr Streeting said: “I can be absolutely unequivocal about that.

“The triple lock is here to stay for the entirety of this Parliament.”

Speaking to reporters after making a speech setting out his economic prospectus for a potential Labour leadership bid, the senior Labour figure added that the Government needed to take the issue of “intergenerational fairness seriously”.

Older people are “increasingly worried about how their care is going to be provided” in later life, while “the next generation is set to do worse than the last, for the first time in our country’s history”, he said.

Mr Streeting added that politicians need to “face up to those generational challenges and address them in a way that takes people with us rather than doing things to them”.

He said: “But I think this is why we have got to be much more confident as politicians with treating the public with respect, sharing those challenges with the public, having the conversation with people, and get democratic consent to make sure we’ve got the right priorities and that we are investing in both security and opportunity for people, both in terms of early years and the best start in life, but also giving people that confidence, dignity, and security in their later years too.”

Elsewhere, Mr Streeting suggested he was also committed to the Government’s “red lines” in negotiations it is holding with the EU to forge a closer relationship with the bloc.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed not to return to freedom of movement, a customs union, or the EU single market.

Mr Streeting told the central London press conference he would seek to “maximise” relations with Europe, while adhering to those promises.