PMQs: Theresa May refuses to guarantee pensions triple lock

The Prime Minister has refused to guarantee the triple lock on pensions.

Theresa May twice failed to answer the question during a record 58-minute Prime Minister's Questions, saying only that "under a Conservative government, pensioner incomes would continue to increase".

It is understood that Mrs May is coming under increasing pressure to drop the pledge, which means pensions always rise by 2.5%, from the Conservative manifesto.

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During a rowdy questions session, she was put on the spot in the last PMQs before the General Election by the SNP's Angus Robertson.

Mrs May replied: "I've been very clear that under this Conservative government, we have seen pensioners benefit as a result of what we've done to the basic state pension to the tune of £1,250 a year.

"I am clear that under a Conservative government, pensioner incomes would continue to increase."

When she failed to answer Mr Robertson asked her again and said: "Is not the message to pensioners you cannot trust this Prime Minister, you cannot trust the Tories on your pension."

But Mrs May again failed to give the guarantee.

Critics of the guarantee, which ensures pensions increase in line with wages, inflation or by 2.5% - whichever is highest, say it is unfair to retain the pledge at a time when working-age families are struggling to get by.

In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, raised the prospect of the triple lock being axed after 2020.

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When the triple lock was introduced under the Coalition in 2010, it was forecast in Budget documents that it would cost £450m a year.

However, a Government Actuary report in 2015 put the cost at £5bn a year.

After PMQs, a Conservative spokesman said: "The Prime Minister was very clear that in the future pension incomes will increase.

"She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) spoke about the triple lock and how that benefited pensioners previously to the tune of £1,250 and that will continue under the Conservatives."

Andrew Gwynne MP, Labour's National Election Chair, commenting on the Tories' refusal to guarantee the future of the pensions triple lock, said:

"At today's Prime Minister's Questions, Theresa May talked about the Triple Lock like it's a thing of the past and, under the Conservatives, it risks being consigned to history.

"While the Tories again proved they only care about the lucky few, Labour will build a Britain for the many.

"We will protect the incomes of twelve million pensioners across the UK by legislating to keep the Triple Lock."