Campaigners call for insurgent party to guarantee income rise for the elderly for whole of the next parliament
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has refused to guarantee the future of the triple lock (Image: Getty)
Reform UK has been urged to commit to the state pension triple lock for the whole of the next parliament. The Silver Voices campaign group issued the demand to Nigel Farage’s insurgent party as it continues to lead national opinion polls.
Mr Farage, who has predicted that the next general election could come two years early in 2027, has so far refused to guarantee the future of the policy due to concerns about the state of the public finances. The triple lock guarantees that the state pension will rise each year in line with average earnings growth, inflation, or by 2.5% – whichever is higher.
Silver Voices director Dennis Reed said: “With increased popularity should come extra scrutiny, but up to now, Reform UK has had a free ride on its policies towards pensioners.
“Silver Voices has membership from across the political spectrum, including many potential Reform UK voters, and they all want to know where the party stands on key issues such as the triple lock.
“It is not good enough for Nigel Farage to claim that he cannot give guarantees because he doesn’t know what state the economy will be in when he takes power.
“He won’t take power if he spurns the silver vote by equivocating about the triple lock, and it is very clear what the state of the economy will be after the recent Budget and Office for Budget Responsibility report.
“There will always be difficult political choices, and our members want to make sure that this vital safeguard for our living standards is maintained through thick and thin.
“We call on Reform UK to commit to the triple lock for the whole of the next parliament”.
Labour has committed to the policy until the end of the current parliament in 2029.
Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said she does not want to scrap the triple lock “now”, but said the Conservatives would see what “mess” Labour leaves behind.
In a speech in November, Mr Farage said: “I cannot tell you what the state of the economy will be as the next general election approaches.
“If I’m right, and that election comes in 2027, then the economy will be in an even worse state than any of us in this room could even relate.
“So how can anybody project on pensions or thresholds or any of those things between now and then?”
The Daily Express has a long-running crusade to defend the pensions triple lock.
Silver Voices has also made a series of further demands to Reform, which include urging it to support other universal pensioner benefits such as free bus passes and prescriptions in England.
A Reform UK spokesman said: “From stripping them of their winter fuel allowance to dragging them into higher rates of tax, this Labour Government has betrayed British pensioners at every turn.
“Reform UK is the party of fiscal responsibility, but we also recognise that pensioners who have contributed to this country and paid their way all their lives deserve a good retirement.
“This is at the forefront of our thinking as we develop our economic policies.”
