PENSIONERS’ FINGERS CROSSED OVER BID TO SAVE TRIPLE LOCK

MILLIONS of pensioners will be watching Westminster closely later this month.

Following Tuesday’s surprise defeat of the Government in the House of Lords, MPs are to get a second chance to save the link between annual increases in the state pension and wage rises, suspended by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

So far, there is little sign of theTory revolt in the Commons needed to force a Government U-turn in the vote, set for a week on Monday.

“I’m with the Chancellor on this one,” said one seniorTory backbencher, previously thought to be plotting a rebellion on the issue.

But Labour sources confirm their party’s MPs will be whipped to back the Lords amendment in the vote.

Opposition whips are understood to be in talks with potentialTory rebels.

Tory insiders suspect this week’s chaotic Government U-turn over lobbying rules may fuel dissent in the Commons.

“Backbenchers are more likely to be tempted to defy the whip after the way they have been messed around,” said one seniorTory.

In the crunch vote, MPs will have to decide whether they want to accept a cross-party Lords amendment to the Social Security Uprating Bill which is now seeking to reinstate the so-called

Triple Lock mechanism for state pension rises. Mr Sunak’s move to limit the annual pension rise to the Consumer Price Index 3.1 per cent figure is effectively an income cut for pensioners, given official forecasts for next year’s inflation are at around 5 per cent.

Baroness Altmann, the Tory peer who led the Lords rebellion that will force a new Commons vote on the issue, was delighted by the successful attempt to force a rethink.

“It was the House of Lords at its best,” the peer told me after the vote.

Pensioners will be hoping the House of Commons is at its best when the vote is held.