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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has rushed to the defence of the triple lock as the safeguard against pensioner poverty comes under sustained attack. Two of the country’s most influential think tanks and a former work and pensions secretary called for an end to the triple lock as concern mounts about the threat of “national bankruptcy” under Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

The latest figures show Government borrowing in September was the highest for the month in five years, topping £20billion. This triggered a warning from the Taxpayers’ Alliance that the Government has “completely lost control of the public finances”. The Policy Exchange think tank has set out plans to slash public spending by £115billion a year ahead of the looming autumn Budget, calling for the state pension to be frozen for three years.

Its latest report pushes for the abolition of the triple lock, which ensures the state pension increases by whichever is highest – inflation, average earnings growth, or 2.5%.

Former Conservative work and pensions secretary Damian Green said the triple lock “needs to be toppled if we are to avoid the national bankruptcy that is uncomfortably close”.

And the Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed the triple lock “disproportionately benefits better-off pensioners”. It claimed spending on the state pension is “now £12billion per year higher than it would have been if we had increased the state pension in line with average earnings since 2011”.

But Mrs Badenoch said if Britain had economic growth, “no one would be questioning the triple lock”.

She said: “The Conservatives invented the triple lock after Gordon Brown failed pensioners. It is our policy, because we believe in looking after those who have worked hard all their lives – unlike Labour, who snatched away the winter fuel payment in their first month in office.

“Instead of going after those who have worked hard all their lives and done the right thing, we should be doing all we can to get people back into work.”

Mrs Badenoch said that as a result of Labour’s “mismanagement of our economy, taxes are going up, inflation is spiralling, and the benefits bill is getting bigger and bigger.”

Joanna Elson, chief executive of Independent Age, insisted the triple lock is still needed.

She said: “For now, it is incredibly important that the triple lock remains in place. Almost two million people aged over 65 live in poverty, that’s one in six.

“Another million are dangerously close to the edge. They cannot afford to have this vital lifeline stripped away from them.”

She warned that pensioners in Britain today are worried about whether they can afford to turn on their lights at night or take a warm shower.

Dennis Reed, the founder of Silver Voices, which campaigns against pensioner poverty, defended the triple lock and turned his guns on its critics.

He said: “Unaccountable think tanks and defeated ex-politicians are at it again, identifying pensioners as the scapegoats for our current economic problems. Ignoring the overwhelming public support for the triple lock, and trying to put the young and old at war with each other, is a dangerous and irresponsible game.”

He warned that freezing the state pension would “plunge millions of pensioner households into poverty.”

Mr Reed claimed the most recent increase in the state pension was “immediately swallowed up by utility and council tax increases”.

He challenged critics of the triple lock to “live for one week on the basic state pension of £176 and then reconsider their alarming and inhumane policies”.

Caroline Abrahams of Age UK also warned against axing the triple lock, saying it is “crucial” to sustaining pensioner incomes.

She said: “There is no doubt that the triple lock has helped to improve the standard of living for pensioners, and we continue to support it going forward.”

Older people on low fixed incomes, she added, had been “truly shaken by the cost-of-living crisis, high inflation and soaring energy bills in recent years”.

She said: “It is vital that we continue to build a country where no pensioners are living in need, where they have the money and the confidence to get out and about, purchase essential goods and services, and keep the heating on in the winter. It would be considerably harder to achieve this without the triple lock.”

Heidi Karjalainen, a senior research economist at the IFS, attacked the triple lock, saying: “Spending on the state pension is expected to rise by around £80billion in today’s terms by the 2070s.

“More than half of this increase is projected to come from the triple lock, but because the triple lock ratchets up the value of the state pension in a very unpredictable way, that figure could actually be much higher.

“Maintaining the triple lock over the long term will have to mean either higher taxes and/or lower spending elsewhere. And this spending pressure would, if left unchecked, come on top of increasing pressure for more spending on health and social care.”

But Jan Shortt, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), condemned the present UK state pension as “the most inadequate in the industrial world”. She said the triple lock should stay in place “until there is a consensus on what the optimum indexing system should be”.

She added: “The bottom line is millions of older people are struggling to afford inflated prices for energy, food and other services.”

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said: “The Labour Government’s economic record has been disastrous, leading to increased unemployment, spiralling inflation and uncertainty for millions of people across the country, including pensioners.

“Thanks to the introduction of the triple lock under a Conservative government, 100,000 pensioners were lifted out of poverty – by contrast, Labour want to raid pensioner savings.

“We’ve set out our plan to get welfare spending under control, back businesses and cut the tax burden, starting with stamp duty.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Supporting pensioners is a top priority and our commitment to the triple lock means millions will see their yearly state pension rise by £1,900 this parliament.”