Labour rift looms over triple lock's future with Burnham to lay out social care plans in speech aimed at tackling 'thorny issues'
During the address, the PM is expected to declare that the triple lock on the state pension is not working in its current form.
Andy Burnham is risking a rift within Labour as he plans to take aim at the pensions triple lock in a conference speech in which he will pledge to tackle 'thorny issues' from which other politicians shy away.
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In his first conference speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham will pledge to hold an "honest conversation" about the issues "politicians usually avoid" such as social care.
During the address, he is expected to declare that the triple lock on the state pension is not working in its current form.
In an LBC phone-in with Shelagh Fogarty on Monday, the PM revealed his new social care system would be free at the point of use like the NHS, and an adult-focused service rather than a broader one that helps everyone.
He also hinted he is willing to take unpopular decisions to fund the service before reports emerged that his party was considering scrapping the triple lock to free up funds.
The triple lock guarantees that the state pension rises by the largest of three measures: inflation, average wage growth, or 2%.
The prospect of the policy being scrapped has already seen Labour figures come out for and against it, sparking the possibility of a rift within both Mr Burnham's cabinet and his party.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, told The Times: “It would be almost electoral suicide.
"Morally, I just don’t think it’s the right thing. We’re the lowest in the G7 in terms of how much we spend on pensions.
"I think that’s an embarrassment, quite frankly, because we’re one of the six richest economies in the world... It would send completely the wrong message.”
Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister, said the policy could spark “intergenerational warfare”.
But Douglas Alexander, the Scotland secretary, told Times Radio that the government would “have to balance" the spending on the elderly with spending on the young.
And the chancellor, John Healey, repeatedly declined to rule out dropping the triple lock.
He told ITV: “The prime minister has got more to say tomorrow."
Critics argue that with public services struggling and Britain's low birth rate contributing to an ageing population, the triple lock is no longer sustainable.
The policy was pioneered under the Conservatives to reduce high pensioner poverty - but some have argued that more targeted support for the poorest pensioners would be more appropriate.
On Monday, Mr Burnham told LBC that he will “lay out a very clear path for the country” in his speech at Labour party conference.
Speaking to LBC, Mr Burnham said: “I will lay out a very clear path for the country tomorrow and it won’t do the usual conference thing, perhaps of just going for the big attack lines on the others and the rabbits out of the hat, I will say things of substance.
“I am trying to speak to your listeners today and tomorrow in really understanding where they are, giving a speech of substance that people will then be able to hear and decide whether they think it is the right direction for the country.”
He also told LBC he would give “a very honest conference speech” to try and achieve “a better connection with the public”.
In the speech on Tuesday, Mr Burnham is expected to say: “We can’t carry on as we are. Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards. More of the same isn’t good enough and isn’t going to get us where we need to be.”
Echoing the conference’s slogan of “Hope again”, Mr Burnham will tell party members that “hope comes from honesty and from saying the things politicians usually avoid”.
And he will revisit the themes of his first speeches in office, criticising the centralisation of power in the hands of “vested interests” and promising a break from the “flawed thinking of the last 40 years”.
At the opening of the conference on Sunday, Mr Burnham said he was prepared to make unpopular decisions, including tax hikes, to pay for social care – accusing previous generations of politicians of “cowardice” for failing to “grasp the nettle” of reform.
Mr Burnham previously said he intends to spend what “political capital” he has on reforming social care, an issue he tried to address as health secretary under Gordon Brown.
Mr Burnham will set out the “broad direction” of his social care plans in his Labour Party conference speech in Liverpool on Tuesday.
A care service which, like the NHS, is free at the point of use could cost up to £18.5 billion a year in 2035/6, the Health Foundation think tank has estimated.
But change is unlikely to come before the next election, with Baroness Louise Casey still to publish the findings of her review of social care and Mr Burnham suggesting he would put his proposals to the public in Labour’s next manifesto.
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said hope was “not a strategy”.
He said: “If Andy Burnham wants to be honest with the British people, he must admit that Labour’s tax rises have crushed businesses, killed jobs and hammered family finances — all so Labour can give more handouts to benefits street.
“Tomorrow Andy Burnham has the chance to show whether he’s got the backbone to bring the welfare bill down and stand up to his welfare obsessed MPs. Failure to do so will prove he’s just a people pleaser who can’t take decisions in the national interest, and that Labour really are the welfare party.”