Image credits: Eugene McCarthy and William Yarwood
Young Londoners across the political spectrum have hit back against Andy Burnham’s pledge to protect the state pension triple lock if he becomes Prime Minister – including the Chair of the London Green Party.
The likely next Labour leader confirmed on Saturday that he will keep the controversial policy, despite previous reports that he was under pressure from key advisers to ditch it.
The triple-lock is a government guarantee that the state pension rises each year in-line with either inflation, wage increases or a fixed 2.5% – whichever is the highest.
It was first announced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government in their 2010 budget and was brought into effect for the 2011/12 financial year.
Rumours that Burnham would be advised to scrap the triple lock arose after a set of respected economic advisers joined his team – including former Treasury minister Lord O’Neill and former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane. It was reported in The Times that these advisers believe scrapping the triple lock is a “no brainer”.
Image credit: Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy, the 22-year-old Chair of the London Green Party, described the triple-lock as “peak boomer politics”.
McCarthy said: “It’s by its very definition unsustainable. The state pension has to increase faster than the economy has capacity to increase it. Even that double lock is just definitionally unsustainable. It’ll have to break at some point.”
The ‘double lock’ he mentions is in reference to the 2024 Green Party manifesto, which committed to downgrading the state pension triple lock to a double lock by removing the minimum increases of 2.5%.
“My generation are paying for Simon and Linda to go on their cruise while we’re never going to be able to buy a house, wages are stagnant, and we’re never going to be able to get a pension as generous as the current generation. The social contract is dead,” he said.
McCarthy went on to explain that he didn’t go to university but instead opted for an apprenticeship: “I have no student debt, I work full-time, and I run a business on the side – yet I still struggle to make ends meet and am unsure if I will ever retire.”
The triple lock faces a huge amount of scrutiny from Westminster’s think tank scene, often dominated by those in their 20s and 30s, on both sides of the political aisle.
Image credit: William Yarwood
William Yarwood, the 26-year-old Campaigns Director at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, described being “disappointed but not remotely surprised” to see Burnham commit to the policy.
Yarwood said: “Politicians know that pensioners vote in large numbers, so protecting them is the easiest promise to make and one of the hardest policies to challenge. But political convenience does not make it economically responsible.
“The triple lock means pension spending can grow faster than both taxpayers’ incomes and the economy supporting it. As the population ages and the number of workers supporting each pensioner falls, the bill will become increasingly difficult to sustain.
“Young people are expected to shoulder the cost today without any guarantee that the same system will still exist when we retire.”
Burnham was not the only major politician to recently announce support for the triple lock after rumours they would scrap it. Reform UK confirmed in April that they are committed to protecting the policy after a period of internal debate over its affordability.
This was a marked change from February, when party leader Nigel Farage said scrapping the policy was “open for debate”.
When asked about Farage’s conversion to supporting the policy, Yarwood said: “It shows how quickly parties retreat when pension reform becomes politically uncomfortable.”
Silver Voices is a political pressure group for the over-60s campaigning on all issues affecting senior citizens, including the much-discussed triple lock.
In reaction to Burnham’s decision, director Dennis Reed said: “We are delighted. I am glad he ignored the advice of his close advisers and committed to the 2024 Labour manifesto.”
“The triple lock is safe for this parliament but I doubt the noise will die down. He will have further pressure in the run up to the Autumn budget – especially with spending required on welfare and defence. I expect that those opposed will gather again before Autumn, but he would look pretty stupid if he U-turned on this promise.”
When asked why keeping the triple lock is so important, Reed points to the state pension being low, and thus the 2.5% minimum increase “doesn’t scratch the surface of increases to our cost of living”.
“In the future, we want the state pension to be half of average earnings, because we believe it should be set at a level you can live on. Until then, the triple lock is the best we have, and we will defend it.”
The campaigner argued that the criticism of the triple lock in the media is because old people appear to be an easy target.
Reed added: “We don’t have trade unions fighting for us. They think we are a soft touch. But they really underestimate the strength of public opinion supporting older people having a decent pension in retirement. Anyone with older relatives will relate to our cause. And the media paints an untrue picture of retirees in Britain – the idea we all go on cruises is wrong!”
Join the discussion