Rishi Sunak has given his strongest hint the government will protect the triple lock on pensions, saying pensioners “will always be at the forefront of my mind”. The rule, which applies to UK state pensions, means pensions must rise each year in line with the highest of three possible figures: inflation, average earnings, or 2.5%. Sunak is likely to face a mass revolt should changes be made to the triple lock, which would mean raising UK state pensions in line with inflation. The prime minister and the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, have said they will look to put the greatest burden on those with “the broadest shoulders”.
Sunak told reporters en route to the G20 summit in Bali that he had demonstrated in the past he understood the particular pressures faced by pensioners unable to increase their incomes by any other means in order to cope with the cost of living. “My track record as chancellor shows I care very much about those pensioners, particularly when it comes to things like energy and heating because they are especially vulnerable to cold weather,” he said. “I am someone who understands the particular challenge of pensioners. They will always be at the forefront of my mind.” Sunak also gave a strong signal that he was uneasy with the prospect of breaking the Conservative manifesto commitment to maintain the triple lock. “Conservative governments have got a good track record of protecting pensioners and, in fact, the state pension today is about £700 higher than it otherwise would be as a result of the triple lock,” he said. “We will put fairness and compassion at the heart of all the decisions we make and I am confident people will see that next Thursday … fairness and compassion will be at the heart everything we do.” Sunak is facing similar pressure to raise benefits in line with inflation – a commitment he made as chancellor – and one that Conservative MPs including those in his cabinet have said would be the right choice to protect the most vulnerable. Raising both benefits and pensions in line with inflation is likely to cost £11bn, while widespread tax rises are also expected as well as public sector pay rises at about 2%, significantly below inflation. Sunak also said the autumn statement would signal more about his intentions on deregulation, a key plank of Liz Truss’s strategy, though many of her initiatives have been dropped including plans for investment zones. The prime minister said there would be some liberalisation of planning laws, without committing to significant reform, and also hinted there were reforms he wanted to look at in terms of workplace rights. “I think there’s lots we can do – not just planning, freeports are a good example of that, the labour markets are another opportunity, regulation when it comes to technology and innovation … across the board I’m committed to driving up growth and I think there’s more than one lever we can pull – all of those would fall in the bucket of supply side reform,” Sunak said.