Andy Burnham has been urged by senior Labour members of the House of Lords to “make brave decisions” and scrap the state pension triple lock.
The intervention piles more pressure on the Prime Minister over the state of the public finances in the run up to the Budget next month – and casts further doubt on the long-term future of the triple lock policy.
It follows reports in The i Paper on Monday that Labour MPs are also privately urging Burnham to ditch the mechanism.
Shorts
The triple lock policy sees state pensions rise by the higher of 2.5 per cent, wage growth or inflation each year. But high inflation and wage growth has seen its cost soar. The state pension bill is now at £146.1bn – nearly half the total welfare bill of £333.7bn.
