![\"Nigel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Nigel-Farage-and-Robert-Jenrick-have-backed-the-triple-lock-e1775125093355.jpg\")
\t\tRobert Jenrick defended the triple lock pension. Stefan Rousseau\/PA Wire\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tThursday 02 April 2026 11:24 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tThursday 02 April 2026 11:50 am\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tRobert Jenrick defended the triple lock pension. Stefan Rousseau\/PA Wire\t<\/p>\n
Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK has come under fire after committing to maintaining the triple lock pension, the financial mechanism that ensures pensioners\u2019 earnings are increased by whatever is higher out of inflation<\/a> or wage growth even in times of economic crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a press conference on Thursday, Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said\u00a0pensioners were worried about the country\u2019s debt load but wanted to see their income protected.<\/p>\n But top economists<\/a> have slammed the party\u2019s decision to keep the triple lock pension, which is also backed by the Tories and Labour, due to the unpredictability of costs and fairness across generations.<\/p>\n \u201cNigel Farage will protect Britons\u2019 pensioners,\u201d Jenrick said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe can only make the commitment today because we will cut tens and tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers\u2019 money the government wastes every year. Reform will balance the books.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will instead fundamentally reset the priorities of government.\u201d<\/p>\n Political parties\u2019 allegiance to the triple lock pension has long been the scorn of top economists, with the neutral Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) last year describing the mechanism as \u201cunsustainable\u201d for the public debt in the long term.\u00a0<\/p>\n Farage said there were older pensioners on the basic state pension before 2016 were \u201cdisadvantaged\u201d but added that the party was set to announce the \u201cbiggest cut to the benefits bill ever seen in this country\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reform UK officials including Zia Yusuf had previously suggested that it would keep the triple lock pension<\/a> under review, raising questions over whether the party would be prepared to break from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Farage said the position on the triple lock was now \u201csettled\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tIt\u2019s time to get pensions investing in Britain<\/a><\/p>\n \tEconomists call triple lock pledge \u2018disappointing\u2019<\/p>\n Economists have now hit out at Reform UK\u2019s latest policy announcement, which puts it on a par with the Tories and Labour.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cReform\u2019s commitment to the triple lock is disappointing for a party that promised radical change,\u201d said Daniel Herring, the Centre for Policy Studies head of economic and fiscal policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSpending on pensions, along with the spending on the NHS and working age and child welfare, is on an unsustainable trajectory and no party is willing to tell the truth about how much this will cost the country.\u201d<\/p>\n His comments echo that of former OBR chair Richard Huges, who in a report last year said that pensioner spending would rise from five per cent to up to 7.8 per cent of GDP within 50 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a press conference after the OBR\u2019s report on the sustainability of public finances, Hughes said: \u201cThe UK cannot afford the array of promises that it has made to the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe produce these reports to draw attention to these issues, and our hope is that there is some attention paid to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Other top officials outside of Westminster have questioned whether parties\u2019 pledges on pensioner spending were affordable given the challenges of an ageing population.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the shrinking size of the working population<\/a> was an \u201cacute challenge\u201d for the UK economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n The triple lock pension was introduced by former Chancellor George Osborne in the middle of the austerity years after the financial crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a Treasury hearing last year, Osborne<\/a> defended his decision to introduce the triple lock due to significant pressure from the electorate on pensioner poverty.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n