Blue on blue: Tory infighting erupts over triple lock pension petition
Infighting across Tory circles has broken out after the party published a petition claiming Labour had pledged to “cut” the state pension following its triple lock reforms.
At this week’s party conference, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced he would reform the triple lock pension if Labour remained in power after the next election. The state pension would still rise each year under a new proposal where the benefit increased by whichever is highest out of inflation or 2.5 per cent.
The current system states that the state pension rises by whichever is highest out of inflation, wage growth or 2.5 per cent.
The Conservatives responded to the announcement by sharing a post on X captioned “Labour are cutting pensions for millions”, alongside an image of an elderly woman looking sad. But the post has drawn criticism from various former party figures amid claims it is misleading.
Former Brexit minister Steve Baker hit out at the party for using the word “cut” in its post.
“[The Conservatives] ought to do better and I’m thankful I’m free to say so,” he said in a post online.
David Gauke, who was former work and pensions secretary under Theresa May and later sat as an independent MP in parliament, said it “isn’t true” that Labour was cutting pensions.
“There’s plenty to criticise in Burnham’s agenda, but the triple lock reform is sensible. This is a poor response.”
Triple lock pension splits Tories
Several Tory MPs have privately said that the triple lock pension was unsustainable for public finances.
In 2021, shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith, who was then a backbencher, wrote an article saying that the state pension triple lock was “unfair” as pensioners could “gain from the misfortune of others”.
“I hope that we can build consensus on what should not really be a subject of controversy but a sensible and pragmatic response to post pandemic management of the economy,” he wrote in Conservative Home.
Several other former Tory frontbenchers have also attacked the triple lock pension in recent months.
Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who is still a sitting MP, said the triple lock system was an “anchor drag on economic growth”.
Shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat was also a critic of the triple lock, which remains in the Tories’ plans. His spokesman recently told City AM he fully supported Kemi Badenoch’s policy platform.