Unite the Union general secretary Sharon Graham has warned the prime minister that scrapping the pensions triple lock would be “morally wrong”, as Andy Burnham prepares to deliver his first speech to Labour conference as PM.
Burnham told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he wants to use his speech to set out his “vision” to introduce an NHS-style social care system, free at the point of use.
There is growing speculation about how such a care system could be funded, including removing the pensions triple lock in the future.
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell told BBC Breakfast the party is committed to the triple lock, which was in the party’s 2024 manifesto.
The triple lock, which has been in place for 16 years, means state pensions rise every April by at least 2.5% or in line with the highest of prices or earnings.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Graham said axing the triple lock risked repeating the unpopular removal of the Winter Fuel Allowance under previous prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
“Instead of going to try and pick the pocket of pensioners, we need to move over to the other side of the equation and think about things like wealth taxes way before we try to stop something like the triple lock,” she said.
“Going to a group of people who are getting around £12,500 a year in order to pay for it [social care], to take away their security, is wrong – I think its morally wrong,” she added, highlighting how current pensions are the lowest of the G7 countries.
On Tuesday morning, Powell said the lock was a manifesto commitment, and asked whether it would stay in place until the next election, she said: “I can absolutely assure your viewers watching this that we are committed to the triple lock, it’s in our manifesto.
“The triple lock is really delivering for pensioners right now: over the course of this parliament it’s set to increase the value of the state pension by around about £2,000 a year – significant uplifts to the state pension.”
Speaking to the BBC, Burnham set out his proposal for a new social care system to help people live more independently. He said social care in England is “as unfair as American healthcare, where the most vulnerable in society can lose everything, they can be wiped out” and indicated “nothing is off the table at this moment in time” on funding.
Unlike the NHS, social care is not free at the point of use. In England and Northern Ireland, people with savings worth more than £23,250 are not entitled to help with care costs from their council.
In Wales and Scotland, different rules apply in terms of eligibility.
Alan Milburn, the former Labour minister who is currently leading an independent review into young people and work for the government, has said scrapping the triple lock to fund social care is “the sort of call” the prime minister is “prepared to make”.
In the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast, Milburn was asked if Burnham’s new social care plans could be funded by getting rid of the triple lock, he responded that Burnham was “exactly the sort of person who can take the big decisions”.
He said: “Andy is absolutely right about this – the social care system is broken… That is going to be a really big call.
“But it’s the sort of call that I’ve got no doubt – from everything, and every conversation I’ve been in with him – it’s the sort of call that he is prepared to make.”
Burnham is also expected to announce a new government body to invest in Britain’s electricity grid, branded Great British Grid, in his speech.
