\n\t\t\t\t\tReform leader’s remarks go further than Labour, which has avoided questions about what will happen to the policy in the long term\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
Nigel Farage has said he \u201cwon\u2019t absolutely commit\u201d to continuing the state pension triple lock if Reform UK wins power at the next election.<\/p>\n
The Reform UK leader, whose party is leading in the opinion polls, said continuing with the triple lock would \u201call depend on, as a country, what we can afford\u201d.<\/p>\n
The long-term future of the policy, which guarantees the state pension<\/a> will rise each year by whatever is highest out of inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent, is set to become a major flashpoint at the next election, due in 2029.<\/p>\n Along with considering potential changes to the state pension age<\/a>, political parties will have to grapple with how to pay for the triple lock\u2019s increasing cost, which is expected to be nearly three times higher by 2030<\/a>.<\/p>\n Introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition in 2010, the guarantee was designed to ensure pensions kept pace with rising living costs and earnings while providing a minimum increase.<\/p>\n But it has come under further scrutiny after the official finance watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), warned the UK economy was in a \u201cvulnerable position\u201d and pinpointed the triple lock\u2019s spiralling cost to the Treasury. <\/p>\n Labour has committed to the triple lock for this Parliament but has so far avoided questions on what it would do beyond that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Reform UK\u2019s leader declined to offer a timeline for setting out his party\u2019s full position on the triple lock, having previously told reporters in May that it would be published \u201cbetween now and the next election\u201d.<\/p>\n It comes after Farage said the state pension age was \u201cinevitably\u201d going to have to rise<\/a> and that he was concerned that pensions are \u201cunaffordable at a national level\u201d.<\/p>\n Addressing a separate press conference last week, he said he shared \u201cthe concern with pensions being unaffordable at a national level\u201d and added that he suspected Chancellor Rachel Reeves would seek to reduce pension tax relief this autumn to help close a gap in the Government\u2019s fiscal plans.<\/p>\n Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall announced last week that the Government would resurrect the Pensions Commission \u2013 a New Labour-era quango \u2013 to investigate how to improve retirement savings and examine when the state pension age should next rise.<\/p>\n It is not expected that any decisions on these issues will be finalised before the next general election; however, this means the issue could come to the forefront in a future national ballot.<\/p>\n Farage had previously stated, in May, that he would set out Reform\u2019s full stance on the triple lock \u201cbetween now and the next election\u201d, but ruled out giving an update on Monday.<\/p>\n Asked by The i Paper on Monday whether he supported continuing the triple lock, he said: \u201cAs far as the triple lock is concerned. I\u2019ve been asked that question before. I didn\u2019t answer it before. I won\u2019t answer it now. I won\u2019t absolutely commit to us keeping it. It will all depend on, as a country, what we can afford.\u201d<\/p>\n The Conservatives have also suggested they may review the future of the triple lock. In January, Kemi Badenoch indicated that her party may \u201clook at means\u2011testing\u201d the state pension in the future, signalling a significant shift from the policy\u2019s universal promise.<\/p>\n The Tory leader later clarified, however, that the triple lock remains a Conservative policy, emphasising that the party has supported it \u201cthroughout our 14 years in Government\u201d.<\/p>\n In contrast, the Liberal Democrats have firmly declared they will retain the triple lock under all circumstances. Party leader Sir Ed Davey has reaffirmed that the Lib Dems were the architects of the policy during the Coalition years and pledged that they will uphold it \u201cunder any circumstances\u201d in the next parliament.<\/p>\n \u2018Serious challenges\u2019 facing UK pensions <\/p>\n The OBR warned at the start of July that the UK\u2019s finances are on an \u201cunsustainable\u201d track and the country \u201ccannot afford the array of promises\u201d that have been made by the Government, with debt on track to rise from 94 per cent of GDP to 270 per cent by the early 2070s.<\/p>\n One big driver of this increase is set to be the pensions triple lock, which the watchdog warned will be three times more expensive by the end of the decade<\/a> than it was expected to be when it was introduced in 2011, costing \u00a315.5bn by 2030.<\/p>\n These concerns were echoed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), which warned in its recent pensions review that there are \u201cserious challenges facing the UK pension system and substantial risks to the finances of future generations of pensioners\u201d.<\/p>\n