Labour MPs agree with former prime minister Sir Tony Blair that the state pension triple lock is “unsustainable” and should be axed.
However, Sir Keir Starmer’s MPs also believe that ditching the annual state pension increase guarantee is too politically toxic for the Labour Government to attempt.
The triple lock policy states that the state pension will rise every year by the same level as inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest.
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courts
Liverpool goalkeeper fined for using phone while driving
Caption: BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – MAY 15: Giorgi Mamardashvili of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park on May 15, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Photographer: Catherine Ivill – AMA
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Catherine Ivill – AMA
A Liverpool FC player has been fined £440 after he was caught by police watching a video on his smartphone while driving on the motorway.
Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was seen by officers holding his phone at the centre of his steering wheel while he was on the M6 near Warrington in January this year. The player did not enter a plea and was convicted on the basis of police written evidence.
What you need to know
The 27-year-old player, the first Georgian to play for Liverpool, was caught by police at about 3.45pm on 27 January while driving in his Audi on the M6 motorway.
In a statement, a Cheshire Police officer said the player was holding a phone. The officer said: “The driver appeared to be watching something on the screen whilst he was driving at motorway speed.”
Mamardashvili did not respond to a police prosecution notice and his case was dealt with in a private hearing. As well as being fined he received six penalty points.
A closer look at the background
Mamardashvili is only the latest in a steady flow of drivers being punished by the courts for using a mobile phone while behind the wheel. Between 2022-2025, there was a 21 per cent increase in convictions for the motoring offence.
Caption: Young Asian businessman looking at mobile phone, sitting in a car. Man of style and status in full using smartphone, traveling by a car. Business travel. Mobile navigation on smartphone.
Photographer: Oscar Wong
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Moment RF
Caption: Young woman texting while driving
Photographer: Peter Dazeley
Provider: Getty Images
Source: The Image Bank RF
It has been illegal to use a phone while driving since 2003; But the law was tightened in 2022 to ensure that only hands-free use is legal. Since last year, AI-powered roadside cameras can identify drivers using phones or not wearing seatbelts.
(Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty).
CONSUMER
Lidl replaces Morrisons as Britain’s fifth-biggest supermarket chain
The German-owned discounter increased its sales by nearly 9 per cent in the three months to mid-May, making it the fastest-growing store-based food retailer, according to new figures.
Lidl now has a record 8.6 per cent market share. The rapid sales growth, fuelled by households tightening their belts amid renewed cost of living pressures, means it has leapfrogged Morrisons (8.3 per cent) as the fifth-largest supermarket.
What you need to know
Lidl has emerged as a big winner of shifting food retail patterns as shoppers use promotions to keep costs down. Grocery inflation last month slowed to 3.1 per cent.
Figures from Worldpanel by Numerator show Lidl increased its sales by 8.8 per cent in the last quarter to 17 May. Only online grocer Ocado – 10.2 per cent – did better as a food-based retailer.
Lidl now sits behind Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco in Britain’s supermarket pecking order. Morrisons insists it market share is underestimated by the Worldpanel figures, which exclude sales from its convenience stores.
Lidl: How the German chain has become a British retail favourite
Some 25 years ago, Lidl accounted for just 1.4 per cent of a UK grocery market where names such as Safeway, Somerfield and Kwik Save were still active. While those chains are now long gone, Lidl – along with fellow German brand Aldi – has rapidly prospered.
Lidl has increased the wages of all its hourly-paid workers
(Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA)
Caption: New Everyday and Weekly surprises merchandise display at Lidl Food Market, Queens, New York. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Photographer: UCG
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Source: Universal Images Group Editorial
Its emphasis on low prices has helped Lidl build market share in Britain’s cut-throat food retail sector. It now has 1,000 stores and 13 distribution centres, employing 35,000 staff across Great Britain.
weather
When is it too hot to walk your dog?
Caption: The concept of hot weather and a pet. Hands holding a bottle and giving water to a dog in an urban environment. Breed Airedale Terrier.
Photographer: OLGA KAZANTSEVA
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStockphoto
Copyright: Kazantseva Olga, okazantseva@gmail.com
It is not only humans who will have been feeling the heat in recent days. The onset heatstroke in dogs can happen in minutes, meaning owners should take particular care when walking their pooch in hot weather.
The Kennel Club recommends measures including only taking dogs out at cooler times of the day and looking out for signs of heat distress, including heavy panting and lethargy or confusion.
What you need to know
Dogs cannot regulate their body temperatures as well as humans. Panting is their main cooling mechanism. They can also sweat from their paw pads and noses.
During extreme heat, dogs should only be walked very early in the morning or later in the evening. Always carry water and something for your pet to drink from.
Very hot pavements can burn your dog’s paws so try to avoid them. When at home, put ice cubes in your pooch’s water bowl and give them damp towels to lie on. Never place a damp towel over the dog because this can trap heat.
The signs of heatstroke to look out for and what to do next
A dog in heat distress can show signs such as heavy panting even when not exercising, unwillingness to move, dribbling and confusion, as well as not walking in a straight line. Contact a vet immediately if heatstroke is suspected and move the dog into shade or a cool floor. Carefully pour water over its body, focusing on neck, stomach and inner thighs. Fan the dog with cool air.
Caption: black labrador dog exhausted by the heat lying on the white tile of a kitchen in summer
Photographer: Nicolas Jooris-Ancion
Provider: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Source: iStockphoto
Copyright: NJOO
NEWS
3 min read
money
Grandmother’s £1m lottery win playing late husband’s numbers
Caption: EDITORIAL USE ONLY
(left to right) Julie Tresadern, Rose Tresadern and Barry Tresadern celebrate winning ?1 million on the National Lottery Lotto with afternoon tea at the Roslyn Beach Hotel in Southend-on-Sea. Issue date: Wednesday May 27, 2026. PA Photo. The family played using their late husband and father Derek’s Lotto numbers, which came up in the April 18 draw. Photo credit should read: Kieran Cleeves/PA Media Assignments
Photographer: Kieran Cleeves/PA Media Assignments
Provider: Kieran Cleeves/PA Media Assignments
Source: PA
Rose Tresadern scooped the £1m National Lottery prize along with her two children after deciding to continue playing her late husband Derek’s numbers following his death last year.
Retired office manager Rose, 80, from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, said the win made it feel like Derek was “still looking out for us”. She plans to spend some of her winnings on a new ring to remind her of Derek.
What you need to know
The family decided to continue playing Mr Tresadern’s Lotto numbers because they reminded them of him. The 83-year-old former business analyst died last year.
The numbers – 1, 4, 12, 15, 39, and the bonus ball 48 – came up in the Lotto draw on 18 April, netting them a £1m prize for matching five numbers plus the bonus ball.
The prize is being shared between Mrs Tresadern and her children, Barry, 52, and Julie, 57. She said she did not know what the numbers had meant to her husband, adding: “I know he’d be over the moon.”
How the winnings will be spent
When Mrs Tresadern phoned her children to tell them of their good fortune, they initially thought something was wrong. She said: “I could hardly speak… When I told them we’d won £1m, there was just silence.”
Camelot’s profits are up – but cash for good causes down – as players switch to scratch cards
Caption: EDITORIAL USE ONLY
(left to right) Barry Tresadern, Rose Tresadern and Julie Tresadern celebrate winning ?1 million on the National Lottery Lotto with afternoon tea at the Roslyn Beach Hotel in Southend-on-Sea. Issue date: Wednesday May 27, 2026. PA Photo. The family played using their late husband and father Derek’s Lotto numbers, which came up in the April 18 draw. Photo credit should read: Kieran Cleeves/PA Media Assignments
Photographer: Kieran Cleeves/PA Media Assignments
Provider: Kieran Cleeves/PA Media Assignments
Source: PA
Mrs Tresadern is planning on using some of her winnings to move to a retirement home better suited to her mobility needs. She will also buy a ring after her original engagement ring became worn out.
science
How music lessons can improve attention span
Caption: Girls practicing playing violin and trumpet
Photographer: JGI/Jamie Grill
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The ability to play a musical instrument improves the attention span of children and young adults, a study suggests.
Canadian researchers found musicians were able to respond faster and with fewer lapses in focus when their attention span was tested compared to non-musicians. The findings suggest learning an instrument could be a way of countering the erosion of attention spans caused by social media.
What you need to know
The study compared the performance of 268 musicians and non-musicians, aged eight to 34, who were set a number of computer-based tasks.
The two groups were closely matched on factors such as age, socio-economic status, personality traits and time spent playing video games.
Those with formal musical training were found to be faster at responding to the test prompts and showed fewer lapses in concentration while carrying out tasks.
A closer look at the findings
The researchers at Canada’s McMaster University emphasised that the gains were broadly modest. But the findings add to a debate about the wider educational benefits of learning a musical instrument.
Photographer: Justin Paget
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Digital Vision
Caption: Boy playing drums in a music school
Photographer: FG Trade
Provider: Getty Images
Source: E+
Rafael Román-Caballero, who led the study, said children may accumulate wider cognitive skills as they learn an instrument, such as co-ordination and an ability to correct mistakes as they play. He said: “Like many cognitive abilities, attention may become more refined and efficient the more it is exercised.”
Caption: Undated handout artist rendering issued by Nasa of the proposed moon base being built. Nasa has unveiled far-reaching plans for its first Moon base that could see people living and working on the lunar surface within six years. Located at the satellite’s south pole, the outpost, which eventually may have sites spread out over hundreds of square miles, will be established in a phased approach, which builds capability over time. Issue date: Wednesday May 27, 2026
https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/liveenable-im3-sustainabilitylogistics-withastros-3/
Copyright: Nasa
space
Nasa unveils next steps for Moon base
America’s space agency has released details of the technology – from robotic landers to hopping drones – it aims to send to the Moon as part of plans to build a permanent base.
The machines also include vehicles that astronauts could drive over the lunar surface and carry scientific instruments. Washington wants to land Americans back on the Moon before Donald Trump leaves office in 2029.
What you need to know
Caption: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, with acting Associate Administrator Lori Glaze and Moon Base Program Executive Carlos Garcia-Galan, holds a news conference on updated plans for the agency???s Moon Base initiative for a long-term lunar presence, at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 26, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Photographer: Jonathan Ernst
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
$20bn Moon base
In March, Nasa unveiled a $20bn programme to build a lunar base, powered by nuclear and solar energy, by 2032.
Landers and hoppers
The first phase will involve the building of robotic landers and hopping drones to map the Moon’s terrain.
Caption: Undated handout artist rendering issued by Nasa of the proposed moon base being built. Nasa has unveiled far-reaching plans for its first Moon base that could see people living and working on the lunar surface within six years. Located at the satellite’s south pole, the outpost, which eventually may have sites spread out over hundreds of square miles, will be established in a phased approach, which builds capability over time. Issue date: Wednesday May 27, 2026
https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/liveenable-im3-sustainabilitylogistics-withastros-3/
Copyright: Nasa
‘As one of Amazon’s top three markets globally, the UK should be wary of Jeff Bezos’s embrace,’ writes Ian Burrell (Photo: Alexander Tamargo/Getty for America Business Forum)
Contracts awarded
Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin is among the US firms which have been awarded contracts.
America’s new space race with China
China is pressing ahead with its own plans to land humans on the Moon by 2030 as the two superpowers gear up for a new Cold War-style race to assert their technological supremacy in space.
Caption: IN SPACE – APRIL 03: (EDITOR’S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images’ editorial policy.) In this handout image provided by NASA, Orion snapped this high-resolution selfie in space with a camera mounted on one of its solar array wings during a routine external inspection of the spacecraft on the second day into the Artemis II mission on April 3, 2026. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard their Orion spacecraft. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)
Photographer: NASA
Provider: NASA via Getty Images
Source: Getty Images North America
Chinese astronauts Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming attend a see-off ceremony at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (Photo: Yang Zhiyuan/VCG via Getty Images)
Most experts believe that Nasa’s 2032 deadline for a permanent lunar base is unrealistic. And while the Artemis II mission in April to send four astronauts around the Moon was a success, some scientists believe it is China which is most likely to be the next nation to place humans on the lunar surface.
business
Amazon’s UK tax bill rises to top £1.3bn
Caption: Sydney, Australia – 2022-07-22 Amazon prime boxes and envelopes delivered to a front door of residential building. Black Friday Cyber Monday Christmas Sale Prime Day. Amazon Flex delivery
Photographer: Daria Nipot
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStock Editorial
Online giant Amazon said it paid more than £1.3bn in UK taxes last year – a rise of more than a fifth as higher labour and business costs pushed up its bill.
The internet-based vendor said its revenues in the UK had also risen, exceeding £30bn in 2025, compared to about £29bn in 2024. The company earlier this year launched its first drone deliveries in Darlington.
What you need to know
Amazon is one of the UK’s biggest private sector employers, with some 75,000 staff in roles from warehouse workers to technologists.
The company said its tax payments had last year increased by at least 20 per cent, driven in particular by the national insurance rate hike which came into effect last April.
Amazon has pledged to invest heavily in the UK and plans to spend £40bn between 2025 and 2027 on developments including new warehouse sites and offices in London.
Amazon and its rising tax bill
Campaigners have previously criticised Amazon over the amount of tax its pays relative to the size of its operations. Its sales of £30bn last year dwarfed those of many traditional UK retailers.
Shoppers are brace for an extended Amazon Prime Day event this month (Photo: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty)
An Amazon fulfillment centre in Dartford. Contagious cases of TB were found at an Amazon warehouse in Coventry (Photo: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty)
The company did not pay any corporation tax in 2021 and 2022 under a tax break scheme introduced by Conservative chancellor Rishi Sunak. But it is now seeing its bills increase significantly as it becomes more embedded into Britain’s retail landscape.
the labour party
Blair’s warning to Starmer – key points
Starmer and Blair (Photo: Kirsty O’Connor/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Sir Tony Blair has accused Keir Starmer’s Government of lacking a “coherent plan” for Britain.
The former Labour leader warned in a highly-critical essay that his party needs a “fundamental reset” if it is to win the next general election and criticised policies that he said have held back business. He also said the UK should not have stopped the US from using its RAF bases at the start of the Iran war.
What you need to know
Rights ‘gone wrong’
Sir Tony singled out measures including new workers’ rights and the minimum wage rise as political errors.
Caption: SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT – OCTOBER 13: Britain’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair attends a world leaders’ summit on ending the Gaza war on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. President Trump is in Egypt to meet with European and Middle Eastern leaders in what???s being billed as an international peace summit, following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Suzanne Plunkett – Pool / Getty Images)
Photographer: Pool
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
‘The chances of any interest rate cuts this year from the Bank of England are vanishingly small’ (Photo: Andrzej Rostek/Getty/iStockphoto)
Triple lock unlocked
In his 5,700-word essay the ex-PM said welfare spending is too high and the pensions triple lock needs to be reformed.
Small boats
Future actions must include doing “whatever it takes” to stop the small boats crisis, Sir Tony added.
Caption: AT SEA, ENGLAND – APRIL 27: Migrants on an inflatable ‘small boat’ clamber on to The UK Border Force vessel, BSC Intrepid after crossing the channel from northern France on April 27, 2026 in Dover, England. Last week the UK and France signed a ??662 million, three-year deal to curb small boat crossings, featuring a first-of-its-kind ??160 million “results-based” payment conditional on a reduction in arrivals. The agreement funds a 42% increase in French coastal personnel, a new removal centre in Dunkirk, and advanced surveillance technology. While designed to disrupt smuggling gangs and secure beaches with riot-trained officers, early reports show smugglers have already begun shifting launch sites further south to bypass the intensified patrols. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Photographer: Dan Kitwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Getty Images
‘Personality isn’t the problem’
The former PM waded into his party’s leadership crisis by saying its problem was not one of Starmer’s personality. He suggested instead that Labour was stuck governing its “comfort zone”.
Caption: Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer looks on during a visit to a nursery in Brighton, south coast of England, on May 26, 2026, to announce a range of measures to support parents and families with childcare costs. (Photo by Gareth Fuller / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: GARETH FULLER
Provider: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Tony Blair singing “Jerusalem” before he gives a speech at the Women’s Institute annual conference in Wembley (Photo: Peter Jordan/PA Wire)
Blair said: “The Labour Party is playing with fire; or, more accurately, with its future, and that of the country… It is because we don’t have a worked out, coherent plan for the country in a fast-changing world and are in the wrong political position from which we can devise one and win a second term.”
Watch more from The i Paper
What’s the real story behind Birmingham’s unemployment rate? Across the UK, the national average unemployment rate is 4.9%, but in Birmingham this number rises to 13.6%, which is nearly triple and equivalent to 77,000 people, with many of them being young adults. The i Paper’s Housing and Society Correspondent Vicky Spratt visited Birmingham Central Job Centre to speak to job seekers and experts to find out what is really going on. #UK #news #unemployed
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It is unfair on young people by prioritising older people for the most generous state support, some Labour MPs told The i Paper.
And yet backbenchers fear that it would be “electoral suicide” for the party to waver from its manifesto promise to uphold the pension guarantee.
Time to be honest with the public, says Blair
Blair said the generosity of the triple lock – brought in by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government in 2010 – was “not affordable” in the long-term.
It is time to be “honest” with the public that the Government was spending and borrowing too much, the former Labour prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday.
Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson quickly rejected the call, arguing that the triple lock was sustainable in the long term.
Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair says the triple lock is not affordable in the long term (Photo: Dante Fernandez/AFP)
But many Labour MPs concur with Blair on the triple lock, even if they don’t support all the ex-leader had to say in his 5,700-word essay on where the party had gone wrong.
One told The i Paper that most of their colleagues on the backbenches agreed with Blair, rather than Tomlinson.
It would be “right” to examine how to end the triple lock for the good of the public finances – and potentially free up money to reinvest in young people, the Labour backbencher said.
“However, it’s not electorally beneficial,” the same MP added. “It’s electoral suicide for anyone who pursues it.”
Silence over triple lock ‘ludicrous’, says Labour MP
Some are frustrated at the ongoing silence on the issue and hope it can be discussed this year, as the party braces itself for possible leadership challenges by former health secretary Wes Streeting and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
One Labour MP, who believes the triple lock is “unsustainable”, thinks there is a chance for the party to debate the best ways to end it as part of a wider debate on welfare spending.
“Everyone knows it [the triple lock] is not sustainable,” the MP told The i Paper. “Labour MPs know, opposition MPs know. No one wants to touch it, but it’s ludicrous to avoid it when we have these generational problems. It can’t go on forever.
“You have to look at shifting generational funding from older people to younger people. Young people need to know we’re a party that cares about them,” they added.
The triple lock means that over time, pensioners’ incomes grow faster than either prices or the salaries of working people.
No 10 wary after winter fuel fiasco
However, some left-wing Labour MPs said it was important to stand by its promise to pensioners, many of whom are still struggling to keep up with the cost of living.
“In one of the richest countries in the world, we ought to give pensioners dignity and security in retirement,” Jon Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, told The i Paper. “After all, they helped to create the wealth in the first place.”
Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South, quoted the liberal economist John Maynard Keynes, who once said: “Anything we can actually do, we can afford.” Lewis, a strong supporter of Burnham, added: “Blair speaks for his class. Keynes spoke for all of us.”
Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said many voters felt “abandoned” by the winter fuel fiasco. Urging against any move to end the triple lock, she said: “We are the sixth richest economy in the world – we have the wealth to support those in need and to ensure everyone can live in dignity.”
Labour MP Chris Curtis, chair of the Labour Growth Group, told the Politics Inside Out podcast in November that it was “mathematically impossible” to keep the triple lock forever. “This is a conversation that we’re going to have to have at some point. The question is, at what point?”
Starmer has repeatedly committed to maintaining the triple lock for the duration of this Parliament. Its future beyond the next election appears uncertain – but it will be difficult to drop the policy, even in the next general election manifesto.
A No 10 source previously told The i Paper: “All other things being equal, we wouldn’t include it in the next manifesto. But we were so badly burnt on winter fuel, the appetite for going after pensioners again is zero.”
Economists say triple lock makes ‘little sense’ – but difficult to end soon
Economists have argued that the triple lock will become increasingly expensive as the population ages. Willem Buiter, an economist and former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, said the triple lock “makes little sense and could become unsustainable”.
David Gauke, a former Conservative Treasury minister, told The i Paper that Blair was “right to say that the triple lock is unaffordable”.
Gauke backed the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) proposal that once the state pension has hit a certain percentage of average earnings, the triple lock should be abandoned and state pension increases kept in line with average earnings.
However, Steve Webb, the pensions minister when the triple lock was introduced, said it would be a “huge step” to scrap it anytime soon.
“Nothing lasts forever”, said the former Lib Dem minister. But Webb argued that there was a good case for keeping the triple lock for “at least another couple of parliaments”.
Webb, a partner at financial services firm LCP, said the triple lock was brought in to “undo 30 years of damage” to the state pension when it was linked to prices and fell behind wages.
“So it’s not absurd to have a policy aimed at mending things remain in place for as long as the damage was done,” he added.
The Government was approached for comment, but referred to Tomlinson’s comments earlier on Wednesday.
Asked whether the triple lock is sustainable, Tomlinson told Times Radio: “I think it’s the right policy, it was in our manifesto and I think it’s important that we make sure we’re protecting pensioners and protecting their living standards.”