Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has sparked fury by saying the Tories are looking at ‘means testing’ the state pension triple lock – what do you think of the idea? Take our poll and have your say
After Kemi Badenoch admitted the state pension could be in the Conservatives’ sights, we ask – do you think the triple lock should be means tested?
Badenoch sparked fury after admitting the Tories were looking at ‘means testing’ the triple lock – which governs how much the state pension rises each year. The comments came after Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said the triple lock was ‘unsustainable’ last month.
The Tory leader’s comments came in response to a caller on LBC – who questioned whether the money could be spent better elsewhere, saying that some pensioners don’t need to be protected by the triple lock. In response, Badenoch said: “That’s exactly the sort of thing that police work we are going to do is going to look at.”
After being further questioned on the comments by presenter Iain Dale, Badenoch went on to say: “We’re going to look at means testing [the triple lock]. Means testing is something which we don’t do properly here.
“I’m someone who has always said, for example, that millionaires should not be getting the winter fuel payment. But what Rachel Reeves has done is the extreme version of that, where people who are actually on the breadline have had their winter fuel payment taken away. We don’t have a system that knows who should get what. That’s the sort of thing that we need to be looking at.”
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The triple lock currently guarantees the state pension will rise in line with whichever is the highest of average earnings, inflation or 2.5% each year. The Labour Party’s manifesto in 2024 reaffirmed their commitment to keep the state pension triple lock in place under their government.
Justifying the comments – which are likely to spark alarm in Tory circles – Badenoch added: “We need to make sure that we are growing. Starting with the triple lock is not how to solve the problem. We need to start with why are we not making the same kind of money we used to make?
“I tell people we’ve started living off our inheritance, we’re living off the work that previous generations did. We’ve got to give something to the next generation. What are we leaving them with? That’s what we’ve got to sort out. We can’t just make ourselves comfortable now spending their future. We need to give them a future.”
In response to Badenoch’s admission that the state pension triple lock could be changed by a future Tory government, a Labour spokesman said: “Kemi Badenoch has put pensioners on notice – she’s going to cut your state pension.
“The Labour Government has taken tough action to clean up the mess the Tories left our economy in, meaning we can guarantee a £470 cash boost for pensioners in April. The Tories have let the mask slip though and are happy to leave pensioners worse off. Yet again, the Conservatives haven’t listened and they haven’t learned.”
What do you think? Should the state pension triple lock be means tested? Take our poll and have your say in the comments below.
