Prime Minister defends Government's State Pension record with £1,200 cash boost

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has staunchly defended his Government's record on supporting pensioners, highlighting the significant rise in the New State Pension by over £900 a year from April. He also noted that older people received up to £300 extra on top of their usual Winter Fuel Payment to assist with energy costs, with the two increases giving a total uplift of £1,200 for many.

Mr Sunak was speaking on daytime panel show Loose Women earlier today. It was the first time a serving Prime Minister has ever appeared on the programme in its 25-year history.

Following recent announcements of an overhaul for benefits - including Personal Independence Payment, Universal Credit and a wide-reaching fraud crackdown - Mr Sunak also touched upon initiatives to "make sure that our welfare system is working", though he stopped short of providing any further information about the changes.

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Janet Street-Porter confronted the Prime Minister on the show, saying: "I think you're a decent man. I do think you work really hard. Hats off to you for that, I think your heart's in the right place, but why do you hate pensioners? Because that is the only conclusion I can come to. Pensioners have come out worse under the Tories, worse under your supervision."

Rishi said: "Janet, I care deeply about pensioners, because I also believe in a country where if you work hard all your life, then you should have the dignity and respect that you deserve in retirement. Again, you talk about how I was raised, that's really important to me personally, and as a sidebar to that, I've been working really hard to make sure this is one of the best countries in the world to be a veteran because I think that's something that we need to make real.

"And I'm really pleased that we've made progress. But so what are we doing for pensioners? Well, it was the Conservative government that introduced the triple lock, to ensure that pensions go up by the highest of either earnings prices, [inflation] or 2.5% You know, lots of people criticise us for that. That means that the State Pension right now, it's just gone up by £900."

Janet countered this by saying: "So has the cost of basic living. And also, sorry to talk over you, you have supplied Pension Credits, but there are so many people who have never claimed them. So your Government or your civil servants or whatever have got a communication problem, because £2.4 billion was unclaimed."

Rishi replied: "So what we did over winter, all pensioners received double their Winter Fuel Payment, they didn't have to apply for it, they were just given it. And that doubles up to £300 extra over the winter to help with energy bills, the State Pension has gone up by £900, far greater than inflation and prices are rising. Thankfully, we've got inflation down now. So I think that will really help.

"And you talked about that pensioner who is working a little bit extra. To your point, as you said earlier, they don't pay National Insurance, which is great, because we want to encourage that work. So they're not paying tax on that work. And for the 30 million people who are working, I think it is important to support them financially as well, and I am pleased that their taxes are being cut by £900 for an average worker. So it'll help with all the challenges that I know people face."

More recent figures show an estimated £1.7 billion in Pension Credit is being left unclaimed. Currently, over 1.4 million pensioners in Britain receive Pension Credit but 880,000 are thought to be missing out. The benefit is worth an average of £3,500 a year but even a nominal amount can open doors to other perks including help with rent, council tax, and NHS costs - plus a free TV licence for those who are over 75.

When asked on Loose Women about the state of poverty in this country, Rishi replied: "Financial security is something I was talking about on Monday - probably the most acute concern that people have is their financial security. And look, we've been through a really tough time. A pandemic, war in Ukraine and energy bills, none of this has been easy for anybody.

"So what we've done during that time is continually provide support to people - and you saw that with me during the pandemic and furlough. We stepped in to provide that support. We did the same with energy bills… And then more recently, what we've done is make sure that our welfare system is working, benefits, and for those people who are in work, that you talked about how we've delivered a big tax cut, which will put more money in their account every month."

In response to Judi Love's suggestion that many feel he can't emotionally connect with people because he hasn't experienced poverty, Rishi replied: "I am going to point you to what happened in the pandemic. I had this job, new job as Chancellor, and all the things that you just said then were true at that moment, but I knew that the right thing for the country was for us to step in and support people through it, protect those 10 million jobs. And that's what I did. Same thing happened with energy bills. That's what we did.

"So I think I'd ask people to judge me by my actions. And whenever the country is in these moments, that's what I've done. That's who I am as a person. That's how I was raised."

• Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV1 & ITVX