Andy Burnham vows to reform pension triple lock from 2030

Change on the horizon

The prime minister announced the pledge today at the Labour Conference in Liverpool, at which he was making his first speech of the week.

The news was announced as a way of funding the National Care Service which he also intends on establishing to bring greater value for social care in the UK and closer integration with the NHS.

Burnham refused to bring reform sooner than the end of the current Labour term, keeping in line with the manifesto pledge that the party was elected on in 2024 to not change it.

The triple lock was brought in under the Conservatives in 2010 and meant that the state pension increases each year by whichever is highest out of inflation, wage increases or 2.5% - hence triple lock.

However, Burnham vowed that from 2030, the government will "adjust it" in what will effectively become a double lock.

He said: "From then, the state pension will continue to rise every year at least by prices or 2.5%.

"And it will hold its value relative to earnings over time so that pensioners will always share in the rising prosperity of the nation.

"This change will generate significant savings, which we will use to build up our own National Care Service."

He added that the country "may pay a political price" for the change, but "someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off".