Careful what you wish for, Millennials

Attacking the “unfair” pension triple lock just means they’ll face an even more miserable old age

Photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash

The triple lock is being unlocked. Even the pensions minister, Mel Stride, says it is “unsustainable”.  Rishi Sunak is looking to use stealth taxes to pick it apart. Labour is keeping stumm, so as not to lose the grey vote, but they are being careful not to commit to continuing with the policy, introduced in 2010 by the Tory PM David Cameron, under which the state pension is increased annually by average wages, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is the highest. 

Actually, this was really a policy driven by the Liberal Democrat minister Steve Webb. He persuaded Nick Clegg to make it a condition of joining the Tory coalition after 2010. Back then it was regarded as a rather left-wing policy designed to restore some dignity to millions of pensioners living in poverty. The state pension had been eroded in value and represented only 16 percent of average pay in UK.

It has now risen to the dizzy heights of 25 percent which we are told by Conservatives like William Hague and David Gauke is “unsustainable” and is intensifying “inter-generational unfairness”. A lot of people on the left seem to agree, and media coverage of the triple lock is almost wholly negative. Pensioners seem to have become the new undeserving poor. But is it unfair and is it unaffordable? I don’t think so.