Blog: The great state pension rip-off

by Glyn Jenkins, UNISON head of pensions  Rishi Sunak has finally announced the complete U-turn on the government’s pledge to retain the triple lock for increasing state pensions. Under the triple lock, pensions increase by inflation, the increase in earnings between May and July or 2.5%, whichever is the greater. Breaking the promise on the triple lock means that all pensioners and all taxpayers paying national insurance will be ripped off. The end of the job retention scheme and employees coming off furlough may distort the measure of average earnings but there is no excuse for not using the underlying earnings increase that could be between 3.4% and 4.5%. That is higher than the flawed inflation index that understates inflation ie the consumer prices index (CPI) or the 2.5% default increase. All the £5 billion from triple lock has just been banked by the government – leaving pensioners to have their income squeezed and leaving public services still woefully underfunded. There can be no excuse for not applying the underlying rate of salary increases. We cannot trust a government that breaks this manifesto pledge. We must ensure that that the triple lock is retained for the future and the Westminster government makes good any loss to the relative value of the state pension. Restricting the increase in state pension does not address intergenerational unfairness, it makes it worse. The triple lock is not only fair to younger generations but essential especially for thos...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Blogs pensions women Source Type: news