Top Badenoch ally defends claim pensions could be subject to more means-testing
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A senior Tory has come out to defend Kemi Badenoch after the Conservative leader suggested she may subject pensions to further means testing. Mrs Badenoch came under fire on Thursday 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.
As he insisted his boss had been misquoted, Conservative Party co-chairman Nigel Huddleston suggested a discussion over whether or not the pensions triple lock is affordable is among “exactly the things” the party could look at in the long term. Speaking to Times Radio on Friday morning, Mr Huddleston claimed Ms Badenoch’s remarks had been “misinterpreted”, and said she had indicated she wanted to look at means testing benefits more widely, especially for the wealthy.
But asked by the broadcaster whether the UK can afford the triple lock, Mr Huddleston said: “Over the long term these are exactly the things we’re looking at, but the Conservative Party has a long and proud history of supporting pensioners, this is the whole point.
“In the speech yesterday as well, Kemi said that we need intergenerational fairness so we need to look at what we can do in terms of policy offerings for young people as well.”. He later added: “That’s not playing one person or one group off against the other, it’s about making sure that we make sure the whole country can be involved in policies going forward.”.
