Go on, Andy - make my day and scrap the triple lock, writes James Hanson

Hallelujah. If he goes ahead and announces as much during his keynote speech to the Labour party conference this afternoon, I might even streak naked through the streets of Liverpool in celebration.

That’s not because I wish misery upon pensioners, it’s because I am fed up with older voters being consistently prioritised over younger ones. It’s not just about the triple lock, of course. The inequity extends to the unaffordable housing market, a student loans system that leaves graduates with sky-high debts, and a youth unemployment crisis that has left a million 16-24 year-olds not in education, employment or training.

But the triple lock is the most blatant example of how successive governments have entrenched generational inequality. The policy, which guarantees the state pension will rise each year by whichever is highest of 2.5%, earnings or inflation, was a worthwhile policy when first introduced by the coalition government, but it has long since served its purpose.

Instead, it’s now become both unaffordable and unfair. Unaffordable because, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, it is forecast to add an extra £15bn each year to the welfare budget by 2030. And unfair because it is effectively being subsidised by working-age people, whose living standards haven’t been protected in the same way.

It’s worth remembering that one in four pensioners are millionaires. Albeit that’s taking into account their property assets, but why should the richest generation in British history continue to be singled out for preferential treatment?

And of course it’s true that the state pension remains relatively low compared to other European countries, and no one is arguing it shouldn’t rise every year. The question is: by how much can we afford to increase it? And the honest answer - as most politicians will tell you in private - is that we simply can’t afford to keep increasing it by as much as the triple lock guarantees.

Despite all that, it will take a brave Prime Minister to propose scrapping it. The reason it’s become such a politically contentious issue is because older voters make up such a significant chunk of the electorate - and they’re more likely to turn out. But if Burnham is serious about funding his proposed changes to adult social care, then the money needs to come from somewhere - and the triple lock is the obvious place to start.

Go on, Andy - make my day: scrap the triple lock.

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