Triple lock is safe with us, says Hunt as Labour wobbles

JEREMY Hunt vowed to include the triple lock in the election manifesto yesterday – but Labour refused to make the same commitment.

The Chancellor pledged to honour the guarantee to increase the state pension each year in line with the highest of earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent. But there was confusion from the Opposition when party chairman Anneliese Dodds refused to guarantee the pledge would be her party’s manifesto.

That forced Labour to clarify that it was ‘committed to retaining’ the policy, but it declined to go further and say whether it would include the safeguard in its manifesto. Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Hunt said: ‘We made that commitment to pensioners and we think it’s a very important one.’

The Chancellor, who just last week cast doubt on the vow to keep the triple lock by telling a Lords committee it was being ‘kept under review’, added that he was confident the ‘expensive’ promise would be paid by growing the economy.

‘When we came to office in 2010, pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups. Now, because of the triple lock that we introduced, they are less likely to be in poverty,’ he said. Acknowledging the triple lock’s expense, he added: ‘You can only make that commitment if you’re confident that you’re going to deliver the economic growth that is going to pay for it.’

Appearing on the same programme yesterday, Ms Dodds, the former shadow chancellor, was asked to answer yes or no to whether Labour would keep the triple lock, but said: ‘We’ll set out those plans for our manifesto in detail.’

Following the programme, a party spokesman said: ‘The Labour Party is committed to retaining the state-pension triple lock.’

However, sources said that it would only do so in accordance with its fiscal rules. They would not say whether it would appear in the manifesto.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also declined to say if the triple lock would be in his party’s manifesto when asked by The Sun last week. ‘We will have to see what the state of the economy is as we go into the election,’ he said.

‘We will publish all of our plans as we go in and answer that question, but I believe in the triple lock.’

The triple lock is designed to ensure pensioners, especially if they rely solely on the state pension, are able to afford rising prices, or keep pace with the increases in the working population’s wages. The state pension will rise by 8.5 per cent in April.

‘Commitment to pensioners’