With the news dominated by the political parties’ respective manifestos, there’s a lot of information to digest. At the time of writing, the Conservatives are attempting to demolish Labour’s economic pledges, the Lib Dems have pledged a second EU referendum, and the UK Independence Party is, well, who cares what UKIP is doing.
At the heart of party policies for pensioners is the triple lock. This pension guarantee stipulates that the state pension will increase every year by the higher of inflation, average earnings or a minimum of 2.5 per cent. It’s an important element of pensions, and effectively protects pensioners from meaningless increases, such as the much-derided 75p a week rise in 2000, and makes sure their income is not eroded by the gradual increase in the cost of living.
While both Labour and the Lib Dems have promised to protect the triple lock, it is thought that the Prime Minister is keen to scrap the system in favour of a new double lock, with the money saved put towards social care instead.
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