Triple-lock stays under Starmer as Labour leader vows to keep pensions guarantee for at least 5 years

27 April 2024, 23:48

Keir Starmer has vowed to keep the pensions triple lock if he becomes Prime MInister - in a ploy to secure the 'grey vote'.

In an interview with the Sunday Express, the Labour leader vowed to keep the pledge for all five years of the next Parliament.

If his party wins the next election, Sir Keir will keep the policy which was first implemented by David Cameron's Conservative party in 2010.

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Sir Keir wrote: "Britain's pensioners deserve better. They deserve certainty, and for politicians to be straight with them so they can plan their lives.

"That's why I'm guaranteeing the pensions triple-lock with be in the Labour manifesto and protected for the duration of the next parliament."

The move to guarantee the policy came after Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt did the same.

The two major parties making this pledge all but guarantees the promise will be on the manifesto of the incoming Government.

The over-75s are the only age group in which the Tories currently have a poll lead.

Older voters are also more likely to vote than younger counterparts - making the so-called "grey vote" a crucial demographic for parties to court.

Before the triple-lock was brought in, state pensions rose in line with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which was consistently lower than 2.5 per cent.

The triple lock guarantee has seen pensioners' incomes grow at almost double the rate of the average worker, according to an assessment by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

A report from the Government Actuary's Department said the guarantee cost the government an extra £6 billion a year in 2015-16, with pensioners earning the highest share of average earnings since April 1988.