A Tory MP has admitted that the triple lock on pensions is not sustainable in the long term.
Windsor MP Jack Rankin, who has been touted as a rising Tory star, made the admission just months after the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the annual cost of the triple lock is expected to reach £15.5billion by 2030.
Speaking at a fringe event held by the Centre for Policy Studies, Mr Rankin said: “The social contract in this country is broken, so people try to get as much out of the system as possible. The triple lock situation is not sustainable long term.”
However, the 33-year-old Mancunian also pinpointed the reason why the Tories will find it difficult to take any cost-cutting action on the triple lock.
“We can’t cut pensions because all of our voters are over the age of 70,” Mr Rankin said.
“But if we don’t cut pensions we won’t have any voters under the age of 70.”
YouGov’s analysis of the 2024 General Election found that the Tory Party secured 46 per cent of the vote from Britons aged 70 and over.
The proportion of pensioners supporting the Conservative Party collapsed from 67 per cent in the 2019 General Election.
Jack Rankin made the admission just months after the OBR warned the annual cost of the triple lock is expected to reach £15.5billion by 2030
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FLICKR/ HOUSE OF COMMONS
However, YouGov’s latest opinion poll suggests the Tories have lost their crown as the party of pensioners.
Reform UK is now polling at 37 per cent among Britons aged 65 and over, up from just 15 per cent among Britons aged 70 and over at the last General Election.
Meanwhile, Conservative support has collapsed to just 26 per cent, 11-points ahead of the Liberal Democrats in third.
The triple lock, which came into force under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2011, binds state pension increases to the highest out of either inflation, wage increases or 2.5 per cent.
The OBR’s forecast earlier this year found that the total cost of the triple lock is expected to triple by the end of the decade, hitting £15.5billion in 2030.
The financial watchdog said the cost of the state pension has risen steadily over the past eight decades, from just two per cent of the economy to around five per cent.
Costs have also spiralled to an eye-watering £138billion, sparking fears the proportion could increase to 7.7 per cent of the economy by the early 2070s.
However, Pensions Minister Torsten Bell has confirmed that the Labour Government is committed to the triple lock.
The Windsor MP admitted ‘the triple lock situation is not sustainable long term’
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GB News“The triple lock is staying throughout this Parliament,” Mr Bell said.
He added: “[The state pension] is a very, very material part of retirement income, forming the ‘bedrock’ of retirement income for many.”
However, Kemi Badenoch has triggered fears that the triple lock is under threat if the Tories return to power.
In an interview with LBC in January, the Tory leader was asked if “serious thinking” was needed around the triple lock.
She said: “That’s exactly the sort of thing that the policy work we are going to be doing will look at.”
Despite claiming “as of now” there is “no change”, Mrs Badenoch fuelled further speculation in April.
“We are going to look at means testing,” the Tory leader said. “It’s something which we don’t do properly here.”
However, Mrs Badenoch defended the triple lock as “Conservative policy” just weeks before the 2025 Conservative Party Conference.
The North West Essex MP instead stressed that the Tories would focus on curbing working-age benefits.