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Andy Burnham was warned he faces an “almighty political battle” with pensioners if he scraps the triple lock. One of his economic advisers, Andy Haldane, branded the measure “fiscally unsustainable” as he doubled down on past criticism of the policy.

The former chief economist at the Bank of England suggested it could be reformed under Mr Burnham. But campaigners called on Sir Keir Starmer’s likely successor to rule out changes to the triple lock, which sees the state pension rise each year in line with the highest of average earnings growth, inflation or 2.5%.

Silver Voices director Dennis Reed said: “Unless Burnham makes an urgent statement making clear that scrapping the triple lock is not his policy, we will have to assume that he has sanctioned this orchestrated campaign.

“If he follows the line of his anti-pensioner attack dogs he is in for an almighty political battle with British pensioners.”

Mr Burnham, who is poised to enter 10 Downing Street within weeks, has committed to honouring Labour’s manifesto pledge to keep the triple lock until the end of this parliament.

In an interview with City AM, Mr Haldane suggested there could be scope for reform by Mr Burnham as the debate had “shifted” in recent months, with former premier Sir Tony Blair and ex-chancellor Jeremy Hunt among those speaking out against the measure.

He said: “I don’t know when the moment will come politically, I don’t know when the political will can be summoned, to tackle this, but I think the vast majority of people would say it does need tackling, and given our strained fiscal times. Why not now?”

Mr Haldane has previously called for the triple lock to be axed to boost defence spending.

Critics warn that the policy is unaffordable and unfair on younger generations.

The Daily Express crusade Save Our Pension Triple Lock is urging all major parties to make a manifesto commitment backing the policy at the next general election.

Mr Burnham’s team has been contacted for comment.