Not case for triple lock ‘indefinitely’ minister who introduced it suggests
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The minister who first signed off on the pensions triple lock has suggested he thinks there is not a case for keeping the measure “indefinitely”. Former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Steve Webb, who served as pensions minister in the coalition government, thinks there is still a case for keeping it now, and there is still “a pretty low state pension” in the UK.
But also suggested that the triple-lock rule made sure that every year “I didn’t have to go and beg for George Osborne to give me a bit more money”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has come under fire after suggesting she would look at means testing when asked about the future of the triple lock, which is aimed at preventing the state pension’s worth from being eaten away by inflation and other cost pressures.
The triple lock means that the state pension rises each year by whichever is highest out of 2.5%, inflation, or earnings. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday, Sir Steve was asked whether he thought there was an economic case for keeping the measure.
He said: “I think there is. Not indefinitely.”. He said the formula was introduced “after 30 years of decline”. “It was a rule, a formula that made sure every year when I was a minister I didn’t have to go and beg for George Osborne to give me a bit more money for the pension because there was a rule,” he added.
