Giving people security in later life
The Liberal Democrats have become the first UK party to commit to protecting the triple lock on pensions in the next Parliament.
The Liberal Democrats are set to adopt our pre-manifesto for the next General Election at our Autumn Conference on Sunday, which is expected to include a commitment to protect the triple lock, ensuring that pensions rise in line with inflation, wages or 2.5% – whichever is highest.
We are proud that we are the ones who brought in the triple lock, lifting thousands of vulnerable pensioners out of poverty. And we are proud to be the first UK party to commit to keeping it in future.
Neither the Conservatives or Labour have so far committed to protecting pensioners by keeping the triple lock in place. In 2022 the Conservative Government broke its manifesto promise and didn’t honour the triple lock. The endless flip flopping by the Conservatives and the Labour Party on this issue is causing huge anxiety for pensioners already worried sick about how to pay the bills.
Pensioners are also being hit particularly hard by the cost of living crisis, facing disproportionately high energy bills. The average energy bill of just under £2,000 is 20% of the £9,627 a year paid through the new state pension. They should not be made to pay the price for years of economic mismanagement under the Conservatives.
Lifting people out of poverty
300,000 pensioners have been lifted out of absolute poverty since the Liberal Democrats in government introduced the triple lock in 2010. We cannot allow this progress to go into reverse.
The triple lock remains crucial. One and half million older people are still living in absolute poverty across the UK, including 1 in 4 single older women and in 5 single older men.
The UK continues to have one of the lowest state pensions of any advanced economy.
When you look at the state pension as a share of average income in different countries: we’re below countries such Poland, Latvia and Slovenia. And we rank well below the average for developed countries.
From 1980, the value of the state pension fell away. The triple lock has started to reverse that trend, but you can’t undo 30 years of damage in 13 years.
Ensuring pensioners have a decent retirement income now is as much about supporting people in their old age as it is ensuring that by the time the next generation retire the state pension hasn’t been eroded by inflation.
🇱🇻 Latvia: 43%
🇸🇮 Slovenia: 42%
🌏⏩ OECD average: 42%
🇵🇱 Poland: 31%
🇬🇧 UK: 22%
The Liberal Democrats are proud to have introduced the triple lock, lifting thousands of vulnerable pensioners out of poverty.
We will commit to keeping the triple lock in place, giving pensioners the security of knowing it will be there to support them in future years.