Andy Burnham to signal END of state pension triple lock and warn Britons: 'We can't carry on!'

Introduced in 2010, the policy requires the Government to increase the state pension each April by whichever is highest - CPI inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent.

Sir Keir Starmer swept to victory in 2024 after vowing to keep it in place.

But in recent days, Mr Burnham has faced mounting pressure from senior Labour figures to ditch the triple lock to help pay for a major overhaul of social care in England.

Darren Jones, the former Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, said: "If you're reallocating money to help older people in the social care system, maybe there's some reform that could be made there."

Lord Blunkett, the former Work and Pensions Secretary, went further, suggesting Mr Burnham should move to axe the triple lock swiftly, a step he said could save up to £22billion by 2030.

The Prime Minister will signal his willingness to review the policy tomorrow, but will not vow to end it during his premiership, Government sources have told The Telegraph.

The Prime Minister will call for the triple lock to be reviewed in his party's next election manifesto

REUTERS

A senior insider also told the newspaper that pensioners would receive social care free of charge in exchange for a lower pension as part of a “grand bargain”.

One Labour MP said that an end to the triple lock should form “part of a much bigger conversation around issues such as social care and support for younger people getting back into work”.

Mr Burnham will tell conference-goers there must be an "honest conversation" about how to fix Britain's deep structural issues and vow to create “a more serious prospectus for Britain than people have been offered in a generation”.

He is expected to say: “We can’t carry on as we are. Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards.

Mr Burnham is expected to vow to create 'a more serious prospectus for Britain than people have been offered in a generation'

REUTERS

"More of the same isn’t good enough and isn’t going to get us where we need to be.”

But the Prime Minister could face the wrath of the unions if he were to trade the triple lock for a new care system.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said a "National Care Service" "shouldn't be instead of the triple lock", arguing that British pensioners already receive among the lowest payments in the G7.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has vowed to leave the triple lock untouched should her party win the next election.

However, it is said that a number of senior figures within her inner circle have privately conceded that the cost of the policy to the British taxpayer is unsustainable.

Last year, a report by the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the annual bill for the triple lock could hit £15.5billion by the end of the decade.

On Monday, Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister's plans to review the policy.

He fumed:“It’s frankly outrageous that Burnham is considering scrapping the triple lock when we’re wasting tens of billions of pounds on nonsense.

“Instead, he should slash the benefits bill, foreign aid and Net Zero subsidies.

"It’s only fair that we have the backs of those who have worked hard their entire lives.”