Oral Answers to Questions

Richard Foord Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Commons Chamber

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was asked—

[Richard Foord (Tiverton and Honiton) (LD)]

1. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of maintaining the pensions triple lock on the economy.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Laura Trott)]

As a result of the Government’s triple lock, the basic state pension is now more than 50% higher in cash terms than it was in 2011. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is undertaking his review at the moment, and I cannot pre-empt that.

[Richard Foord]

Now that Lord Cameron has returned to the Cabinet, it is probably a good time for us to remember that the pensions triple lock was a Liberal Democrat initiative. The 2010 Liberal Democrat manifesto said:

“We will uprate the state pension annually by whichever is the higher of growth in earnings, growth in prices or 2.5 per cent.”

Given that the triple lock has now been operational for more than a decade, will the Chancellor and his team commit to putting the triple lock in the next manifesto?

[Laura Trott]

Nice try. The triple lock was a Conservative invention, delivered by the Conservatives, and it is something to which we remain committed.