The National Pensioners’ Convention is making a last ditch call to the Government to save the pensions triple lock and protect millions from poverty.
The NPC fears Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are about to ditch the triple lock measure – a 2019 Conservative Manifesto pledge – which should guarantee an inflation-proof state pension rise next spring.
There is still time before
Thursday’s Budget!
Thousands of NPC members have now written to their local MPs asking them to lobby both leaders prior to the Budget Statement this Thursday (17th November). And many, including Conservative MP Gary Sambrook, Birmingham Northfield, have since asked Mr Hunt to reinstate the triple lock.
Jan Shortt, NPC General Secretary said: “This is a last ditch plea to save millions of older people from sinking further into poverty. With prices still rocketing, millions of older people are already having to choose between eating and heating their homes – they need the triple lock rise.
NPC makes final plea to PM & Chancellor:
‘Save the triple lock - save our oldest’
“Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt must end the worry for millions and commit to the restoration of the full triple lock to match inflation next year – and they can do that by keeping their Manifesto pledge in Thursday’s Budget Statement.”
Many of the NPC’s million-plus members have spoken of how worried they are that the government will not keep its Manifesto triple lock promise – a measure which should ensure pensions rise by the greater of the previous September's inflation rate (10.1% in September 2022), wage growth, or 2.5%.
The NPC urged members to use our template draft letter to write and ask their local MPs to vote against any government move to axe the triple lock.
Jan said: “It’s well known that older people spend more of their fixed incomes on energy, so they have to cut spending on other essentials like food. One in five already live in poverty – if pensions fail to keep up with prices next spring, I fear we’ll see many more unable to cope, and a rise in winter deaths.
Remember that this is not just about today’s older people – we all get old and if we fail to save the triple lock now, tomorrow’s pensioners face a grim, impoverished future.”
So far, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have failed to commit to increasing the triple lock or any other benefits in line with inflation. Axing them is rumoured to be part of the cost-saving cuts the government is considering to offset the country’s multi-billion pound deficit.
The campaign to save the triple lock has gather support right across the UK, with many older people’s organisations making the call, and an Express petition gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures.
Jan commented: “To its shame, the UK has one of the poorest state pensions in the developed world. Its value has been eroded over decades, despite the overtures of the Pensions’ Minister that we are protected.
“Our spending power has decreased to a pitiful level, and the 3.1% rise in pensions in April 2022 was immediately swallowed up by energy prices and inflation across a range of essentials. Even with a 10% rise, the basic state pension will still be less than half the earnings of a person on the National Living Wage. We need to save next year’s triple lock now.”
ENDS
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