AN EXPERT has said that the announced changes to the pensions triple lock is a departure from ‘people pleasing’ of thwe earliest days of Burnham as PM.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced yesterday that he plans to end the triple lock on pensions during this week’s Labour Party Conference.
The move would change a three-fold guarantee on rises in pensions.
Currently, how much pensioners are given rises based on the highest of three metrics: the rate of inflation, the rate of average earnings, and a flat rate of 2.5%.
Whichever of these was highest would guide the amount by which pension payments rose.
However on Tuesday, September 29, the PM announced he would be seeking to remove the link with average earnings.
While this means that pension payments would still increase, the rate of increase would likely be slightly lower.
Despite this, it’s thought the move could save up to £15 billion a year by 2040– ten years after it is planned to come into effect in 2030.
Dr Lawrence McKay, Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the University of Reading, said: “Burnham’s proposal to change the ‘triple lock’ on state pensions is widely being described by Labour MPs as ‘brave’, though some seem to mean it in the Yes, Minister sense, where ‘brave’ means politically dangerous, rather than literally brave.
“However much the policy is caveated and limited, this is indeed a brave policy announcement.”
He explained: “It marks a change from the ‘people-pleasing’ tendencies of Burnham’s early days as PM, and has little to do with the hope-based theming of Labour’s conference. It sparks immediate comparison to the Starmer-Reeves efforts to limit Winter Fuel Allowance, which, according to polling data, were both the government’s best-known and most unpopular policy, and were associated with a decline in Labour’s polling, especially among pensioners
“This time could be different, however–the Winter Fuel Allowance cuts felt more immediate, as they were due to come in the following winter just a few months away.
“They were also more emotive, calling to mind images of pensioners shivering in their homes.
“While other parties, some pressure groups and some trade unions may attempt to overturn Burnham’s plans, doing so may prove surprisingly difficult to achieve.
“Burnham remains personally popular and has a large majority, and privately even some on the right accept the triple lock can’t last forever.”
