Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab insists government won't touch triple lock pensions

18 June 2020, 08:54

Dominic Raab insists there's no plans to touch the triple lock pension

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today told LBC that the government has no plans to touch 'triple lock' pensions.

Downing Street has also played down reports that the "triple lock" on pensions will be abolished as a result of the coronavirus financial crisis.

Speaking with Nick Ferrari on LBC, he said: "We'll keep all our manifesto commitments. We have no plans to touch the triple lock.

"Of course, I don't want to pre-empt the Chancellor's Budget."

Mr Ferrari clarified whether the triple lock is safe and the Foreign Secretary confirmed: "There's no plans to address that and we are staying true to our manifesto commitments."

The triple lock, which has been in force since 2010, acts as a safeguard for state pensioners' incomes and helps to protect their spending power.

Each year, the state pension increases in line with either inflation in the year to September, a "floor" of 2.5%, or earnings, whichever is higher.

The Financial Times reported that Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to break the pledge, amid Treasury fears that the policy could soon become unaffordable.

But a Number 10 source told a Westminster briefing: "These are unique and challenging economic circumstances and we cannot hide from that.

"As you know, decisions on tax and pension policy are set out at Budget by the Chancellor but there are no plans to abolish the triple lock and we will always stand by pensioners."

Asked if it could be suspended for a year or two, the source said: "I'm not going to speculate on what inflation might be in future."