{"id":230599,"date":"2025-10-21T19:07:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/230599\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T19:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:07:13","slug":"politics-home-former-tory-cabinet-minister-calls-for-pensions-triple-lock-to-be-scrapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/230599\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics Home | Former Tory Cabinet Minister Calls For Pensions Triple Lock To Be Scrapped"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Conservative MP Damian Green has called for the pensions triple lock to be scrapped (Alamy)<\/p>\n


\n \"Zoe
\n <\/a><\/p>\n


\n 3 min read21 October
\n \n <\/p>\n

A former senior Conservative minister has said the pensions triple lock has \u201cserved its purpose\u201d and should be replaced.<\/p>\n

Damian Green, a former Conservative secretary of state, has argued in a piece for The House<\/a> that the triple lock on state pensions should be abolished.<\/p>\n

He said the triple lock \u2013 which guarantees annual rises in the state pension in\u00a0line with whichever is highest out of inflation, earnings, or 2.5 per cent \u2013 has become unsustainable and should be replaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be brave for once,\u201d said Green, who was the Tory MP for Ashworth from 1997 to 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe triple lock has served its purpose and has had its day. We need a new settlement that is fair to all generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Conservative Party has ruled out scrapping the triple lock if it returns to government, despite facing calls from some of its own MPs and right-leaning think tanks to ditch it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reem Ibrahim, a spokesperson\u00a0for the the Institute for Economic Affairs, called the triple lock \u201ccompletely unsustainable\u201d as it is \u201cbeing spent on some of the wealthiest demographics in the country\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tory MP and former leadership contender Tom Tugendhat also called for the triple lock to be scrapped by his party, and said that young people had realised the “entire economy is now geared towards a bunch of people who are ageing”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At a fringe event at Conservative Party conference, 2024-intake Tory MP Jack Rankin said the triple lock policy is \u201cnot sustainable long term\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lord Mark Harper, former Conservative transport secretary, told the BBC Radio 4\u2019s Westminster Hour on Sunday that his party was \u201cabsolutely committed\u201d to the triple lock. But he did admit there was \u201can argument about whether you recalibrate it in terms of the percentage of average earnings\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Labour government and the Lib Dems have also committed to keeping the triple lock in place. Reform UK has said it will announce its own policy on the triple lock before the next general election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Green warned that maintaining the policy risks national bankruptcy, with pension costs projected to rise from \u00a3150bn (5.9 per cent of national income) to 8 per cent by 2050, adding around \u00a345bn to the pensions bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He proposed linking state pension increases to average earnings growth, which he said would ensure retirees have a share in times of economic prosperity but also share the burden during economic downturns.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the causes of the chronic unhappiness with politics here is the perceived unfairness between the generations,\u201d Green continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOlder people are better looked after than ever before, but younger workers feel that, however responsible and hard-working they are, it is too difficult to buy a home, start a family, or just enjoy the traditional fruits of doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green is a centre-right Conservative who served in the Cabinet under Theresa May, and was the chairman of the One Nation Conservatives caucus of MPs before he lost his seat in last year\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n

The Conservative Party was approached for comment.<\/p>\n

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