Corbyn turns up heat on May

Theresa May is trying to “pitch the young against the old” by planning to scrap the pension triple lock and universal winter fuel allowance, Jeremy Corbyn is warning.

The Labour leader is stepping up his attack on the prime minister over her manifesto pledges, which he claims amount to a “triple whammy of misery” for pensioners.

Mrs May has insisted she is committed to protecting the dignity of Britain’s elderly as her plans to cut pensioner benefits and overhaul social care funding came under fire.

Mr Corbyn will use a campaign rally speech in Birmingham today to call on the Tory leader to immediately drop the “anti-pensioner package” which formed a central part of her manifesto

“She is trying to pitch the young against the old”

plan to tackle the major challenges facing the UK.

As well as the proposal to means-test the winter fuel allowance and end the triple lock which guarantees the state pension rises by at least 2.5%, the manifesto contained plans for a radical shake-up of social care funding which could see more elderly people paying to be looked after in their own home.

Mrs May has already come under pressure from senior Conservative Sarah Wollaston, who said scrapping the planned cap on care costs would leave people facing a “miserable lottery” when it came to funding their future care needs.

To compound Mrs May’s difficulties it emerged Tory plans would mean pensioners in Scotland escape the means-testing for the winter fuel allowance, worth up to £300.