David Cameron’s Brexit threat to pensioners is a new low

Campaigns only last for a few weeks, but politicians can be defined by what they say during those campaigns. Ed Miliband will never live down the #EdStone, Zac Goldsmith will always be stained by his murkier attacks on Sadiq Khan – and I suspect David Cameron will never manage to shake off the threat he made to pensioners today. At times, it can seem as if he’s got confused and has set out to attack his own reputation, rather than that of his opponents.

Those who watched George Osborne grilled by Andrew Neil last week will know the issue: the Remain campaign has decided to pretend that pensioners will be worse off after Brexit. They issued a dishonest poster (above), which overlooks the fact that Cameron himself has promised to protect the state pension with a “triple lock”: it will rise by inflation, earnings or 2.5pc, whichever is the higher. The phrase “triple lock” is designed so David Cameron can say to pensioners: be in no doubt, your pension is safe under the Tories no matter what.