Pensioners warn Nigel Farage: Scrap the triple lock and Reform UK loses votes | Politics | News
Pensioners have warned Nigel Farage that he risks losing their votes if he dares to touch the pension triple lock, urging Reform to protect the policy. It comes after Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, said he could not guarantee to keep the triple lock, a policy which he describes as unsustainable.
Vivienne Champ, 72, warned Reform that the party would alienate older voters if it backed away from the policy, saying: โReform should protect the triple lock, because the cost of everything is soaring. If they donโt, theyโll lose votes.โ Speaking to the Daily Express in Chatham, Kent, older voters said the triple lock was vital to keeping up with soaring prices, and warned that any move to scrap it would not only โhammerโ poorer pensioners, but also cost Reform at the ballot box.
Colin Delaney, 73, said that Farage โshould protectโ the policy, which sees the state pension increase by inflation, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest, each year.
Concerns over pensioners being unable to pay their bills were a major concern, with David Mitchell, 70, saying he and his wife Leslie, 67, were โboth happy with the triple lockโ. David Whiteman, 66, also warned that โall the bills are going upโ as he said he โcould not afford to retireโ, saying that Reform had to protect the lock.
But, despite his warning, Mr Whiteman added: โLetโs give Reform a go, they canโt do no worse than the other lot.โ
Mr and Mrs Dennis, aged 87 and 85, said scrapping the guarantee would โhammer people,โ adding that losing it would be โannoyingโ. The couple expressed worry about the impact it would have on older people heading into winter.
Mrs Browne, 82, said she โwanted a pay riseโ and โcouldnโt stand Reform,โ adding: โI am against everything they stand for.โ
The triple lock ensures that the state pension rises each year by whichever is highest, earnings growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent. It currently benefits more than millions of retirees and costs the Treasury around ยฃ10billion a year.
Reform did not respond to requests for comment.
