Top Tory Mel Stride casts doubt on future of state pension triple lock

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride suggested the Tories could look again at the triple lock commitment - which guarantees the level that the state pension rises each year

A top Tory has cast doubt on his party's future support for the pensions triple lock.

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride previously said the commitment - which guarantees the state pension will rise in line with whichever is highest of average earnings, inflation or 2.5% - was not sustainable in the long term. Grilled on his position on the triple lock at an event in Westminster, he said: "I'm widely reported as having said, as you phrased it, it's unsustainable.

"What I actually said was that in the very, very long term, it is unsustainable. Now that is just a mathematical reality." He said the cost of the state pension would spiral over many decades under the triple lock.

Mr Stride added: "So the answer to your question, though, is we will be looking at every single aspect, including policies around pensioners and so on, as we go forward. But, and I think it's fair to say that as a party, we have always stood up for and always worked to protect pensioners."

Labour seized on the comments and accused the party of plotting to abandon the triple lock. A Labour spokesman said: “Mel Stride has let slip that the Tories are planning to betray pensioners and ditch the triple lock.

"In government, the Tories broke the triple lock and left pensioners worse off. Now they’re planning to do it all over again. The Conservatives haven’t listened and they haven’t learned.”

The full state pension will rise by 4.1% to £472 a year from April, in line with wage growth.

Mr Stride also admitted that the Tories have "a long way to go" before they can be contenders again after their general election wipeout.

He said: "We have a long way to go in order to get back into political contention, but I believe we can do it, because I think that Labour victory last time round whilst wide is relatively shallow, and under 34% of the vote. We are in very volatile territory at the moment in which almost anything can happen in the future."