𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Politics, the old cliche goes, is all about values. It’s not necessarily only about what works, in other words, but about what’s right, what’s fair and what’s worth prioritising in society. If that’s the case, then Andy Burnham’s decision this week to scrap the triple lock in 2030 reveals rather a lot about this Labour Government’s values.

And in my view, they are rotten to the core. The Prime Minister wants to launch a universal care service. A noble enough ambition but one which will be eye-wateringly expensive – and certainly far more than we can afford. As we all know, the country is bankrupt. We are paying over £100bn a year just to service the debts successive governments have recklessly accrued over the years.

But rather than find a few savings from our increasingly bloated balance sheet, Mr Burnham has instead taken a long, hard look at the fruits of our elders’ labour and decided they are ripe for the picking. For a Government to adopt such a scornful attitude toward the people who helped build this country, the people who kept it going through thick and thin, frankly, that tells you everything you need to know about them.

For years, the Daily Express and its magnificent readers have campaigned valiantly to protect the triple lock. Why? Because it is a fundamental social contract. It was a promise made to the generations who spent the best part of half a century working hard, paying into the system and building the very foundation of modern Britain. It was a cast-iron agreement with the Government of the day which said: We will not let you fall behind.

And yet, at the very first sign of trouble, Andy Burnham and his Labour colleagues have tossed that promise into the gutter in order to plug their own self-inflicted financial black holes.So let me be clear, here and now, when I say that Reform UK will keep the triple lock. How? Simply by prioritising British values.

Just look at the billions the Government wastes week-in, week-out, on nonsensical vanity projects. It’s expected the British Government will have spent £15.3bn on housing asylum seekers by the end of the decade. If these people have come here illegally, they must be deported immediately. No ifs, no buts.

We spend vast fortunes on foreign aid – some £200bn since 2010 – with money passed to countries such as China and India, despite both countries having bigger economies than our own. India can afford its own space programme for goodness sake!
Yes of course, when a country is hit by natural disasters, such as the recent flooding in Nepal, we will always be there for them financially. But all too often, foreign aid ends up being flitted away on daft schemes or, I am sorry to say, lining the wallets of foreign despots.

On net zero, further billions have been splurged on ill-thought-through policies, giving us some of the highest energy prices in the world at the same time driving lucrative manufacturing contracts and skilled jobs into the hands of our overseas rivals.
And what for? Britain, lest we forget, produces less than one per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. It’s madness.
Meanwhile, welfare payments have shot up exponentially since the pandemic. Yes, most claimants are doubtless genuine, but you hardly need to be a detective to deduce there are plenty out there who are clearly gaming the system. There needs to be far greater scrutiny. My Treasury spokesman, Robert Jenrick, has already identified £50bn in welfare cuts we could make quite easily while still being able to care for the sick and vulnerable.

Did you know, for instance, we could save £21bn just by stopping welfare payments to foreign nationals?
In fact, we’ve identified £80bn in savings across the board – 13 times as much as abolishing the triple lock saves. That means we can afford to keep it as well as raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000.

But cutting spending of any sort is, of course, politically inconvenient for Mr Burnham. He’s too worried about scaring the horses.
Instead, by going after pensioners, he’s chosen to dive straight into the pockets of those who have spent a lifetime doing the right thing.

Well, I tell you here and now Reform UK will fight this tooth and nail. Because we believe in putting British citizens first.
We believe that an honest day’s work deserves a peaceful, secure retirement. We will not sit back and watch an out-of-touch political class dismantle the promises made to our older generation while throwing billions down the drain elsewhere. So, to the millions of pensioners across Britain reading the Daily Express today who feel betrayed, ignored, and discarded by the political elite, let me tell you this here and now: You are not alone.

Reform UK hears you, we stand with you and we will fight for you.
And to Mr Burnham, I say this. Let’s get this issue settled now. Not in 2030. Now. That means we need a General Election.
It is time to call out this betrayal for what it is and demand a Government that puts Britain and its people first.