Andy Burnham has vowed to keep the state pension triple lock untouched, insisting Labour must honour its manifesto promise to millions of pensioners at a moment of collapsing public trust.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester claims tearing up the manifesto commitment would be a “very damaging thing to do” – defying a growing chorus of voices, including Labour’s own cost of living tsar, calling for it to be ditched.
In a further message to the country’s pensioners, he also said the growing number of older people being drawn into paying income tax through frozen tax thresholds — so-called “fiscal drag” – was an issue the next government “need[s] to look at as well”.
Shorts
In an exclusive interview with The i Paper ahead of Thursday’s Makerfield by-election, Burnham was unequivocal that the pensions guarantee was not up for negotiation – despite pledging to cut welfare to fund defence spending.
