Health

Kwasi Kwarteng assures Government ‘absolute commitment’ to triple lock pension


Pensioners are guaranteed to boost their state benefits next year, the Prime Minister insisted last night.

Kwasi Kwarteng said the Government was ‘fully committed’ to locking down the three pension schemes amid fears it could be suspended again to save money. But he declined to say that the increase in welfare payments for the unemployed would keep up with the rising cost of living.

Meanwhile, experts warn that his Treasury will have to cut billions of pounds from public services, similar to the cuts imposed during the austerity period of the last decade. , to balance the books after he made radical budget cuts.

Speaking during a visit to a business in Darlington yesterday, Mr Kwarteng said: ‘The Prime Minister has made an absolute commitment to the three lockdowns and we are absolutely committed to maintaining it.’

Prime Minister Kwasi Kwarteng arrived at Darlington Station to visit and see local business yesterday. He said the Government is ‘fully committed’ to a triple lock on the pension amid fears it could be suspended again to save money

But asked if the benefits would also increase with inflation, he simply said: ‘It’s too early for me to make a decision on that, but we are fully focused on making sure that those who are vulnerable The most vulnerable in our society are protected through what can be a challenge. ‘ His comments came after concerns that the Conservatives’ longstanding manifesto pledge – ensuring that the state pension increases each year to match what is at the highest levels other than inflation, income or 2.5% – could be broken again next year.

Triple lockdown was controversially suspended last year to avoid record increases in line with wages that had been boosted as the Covid slump ended, leaving seniors up just 3.1% in April this year.

The following month, Rishi Sunak, then Prime Minister, promised that it would return, providing a welcome boost in retirement income from April to around 10%, as the figure is calculated according to the inflation rate. in the year to September.

Mr Kwarteng’s assurances came after Treasury Secretary General Chris Philp refused to guarantee the triple lock would be maintained. Mr Philp, who has just spoken to parts of Whitehall to find a new ‘effective savings’ method, said the decision was being ‘reviewed’.

He told the BBC: ‘The Department for Work and Pensions each autumn reviews the pension plans. That process will go on as usual this fall and be announced to Congress in the usual manner. I wouldn’t do that before that process. ‘

Treasury Secretary Chris Philp refuses to guarantee triple lockout will be maintained

Helen Morrissey, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said pensioners are counting on “inflationary increases on their state pension next year under a three-lock regime”, adding: ‘Many Retirees have struggled with their finances as energy and food costs have skyrocketed and their incomes have not been able to keep up. ‘

Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann said that if the Tories break their pension promises a second time, after cutting the income tax rate by 45p and removing the bankers bonus cap, ‘I think that would be very poor by some of their core, loyal voters’.

She added: ‘I strongly advise them not to remove the protection promised to pensioners in the UK, which has the lowest pension rates in the developed world.’ Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister who is now a partner at consulting firm LCP, predicts that ministers will ‘seek to cash in savings by tightening working age pensions’.

The Resolution Foundation’s research arm says increasing welfare, including pensions, by income rather than inflation next year – effectively a cut of 4 percentage points – will increase by £11 billion in a single year. years but cost a low-income family more than £1,000. It is predicted that the Government may have to cut spending even larger than George Osborne’s in 2010.



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