In theory, the triple lock on the state pension, which guarantees that pension incomes rise by either 2.5 per cent, the rate of average earnings growth, or in line with the Consumer Price Index – whichever of the three is higher – shouldn’t be contentious.
Who doesn’t agree that the elders of our society, who have contributed so much throughout their lives, should have financial security in retirement? Particularly given that the vast majority of them will have paid both income tax and national insurance.
Yet, the state pension triple lock is one of the thorniest topics in British politics today.
As a journalist who, for my sins, is no longer entirely anonymous, I often receive messages, letters and emails from readers. But the kickback when I argue that the state pension is to all intents and purposes a benefit is striking.
After I pointed out in a previous column that the state pension is by far the single biggest state benefit in the UK, dozens of people wrote in insisting that it is not a benefit. Many argued that people pay into Britain’s welfare state via national insurance and are therefore “entitled” to the pension when they stop work.
