Lucy Powell Reaffirms Labour’s 2.5% Pensions Triple Lock as Social Care Funding Speculation Grows
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Sep 29
Lucy Powell Reaffirms Labour’s 2.5% Pensions Triple Lock as Social Care Funding Speculation Grows
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Sep 29
Summary
Lucy Powell said Labour will keep the pensions triple lock, calling it a manifesto commitment and saying it could lift the state pension by about £2,000 a year over this parliament.
The pledge came after speculation that Andy Burnham could help fund an NHS-style social care system by scrapping the lock, after saying “nothing is off the table” on how to pay for reform.
Sharon Graham of Unite called removing the lock “morally wrong,” arguing pensioners on about £12,500 a year should not fund social care and urging wealth taxes instead.
The triple lock, in place for 16 years, guarantees annual state pension rises by the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5%; Burnham is due to outline his wider social care plan at Labour conference.