Boris Johnson breaks Tory triple lock manifesto vow as pensions go up by rate of inflation
BORIS Johnson today broke a SECOND Tory manifesto promise as he ditched the pensions triple lock.
The state pension will rise by the rate of inflation, set to be around 3 per cent, per cent next year as he and Rishi Sunak suspend the lock for a year thanks to Covid.
The triple lock means that pensions will rise by inflation, average wages, or 2.5 per cent - whichever is greater.
But after the pandemic wages have shot up, by around eight per cent, which would have meant the Chancellor having to find billions of pounds extra to fund pensions.
Instead the triple lock will be replaced with a double lock vow - for one year only.
The new, full, flat-rate state pension rose to £179.60 a week in April.
Work and Pensions boss Therese Coffey made the statement today in the House of Commons after the PM's social care announcement.
She told MPs: ";This year I anticipate an unusual change in earnings thanks to the impact of the Covid pandemic.
"Earnings have risen at an unprecedented rate and we face a distorted reflection of wages growth... 8.8 per cent compared to the same time next year.
"I am clear, another one year adjustment is needed.
"For 2022/23 only, we will make sure the state pension rises by 2.5 per cent or in line with inflation, which is expected to be higher.
"It will set aside the earnings element for 2022/3 before being restored for the end of this Parliament."
It means pensioners will not see their state rates soaring at the same time as others face tax rises.
The Bank of England and most City economists ave forecast that inflation will rise to about 3 per cent over the rest of the year - it's currently around 2.5 per cent.
She said it was a "fair and reasonable" course of actions and would be "temporary and only for one year".
She added: "A statistical anomaly is not the basis for an uplift this year."
It came after Boris Johnson confirmed:
- He would break a Tory manifesto vow not to raise National Insurance in this Parliament - to pay for the NHS and social care
- He will hike it by 1.25 per cent to raise billions of pounds of extra cash - which will come in in April 2022
- Boris revealed to raise even more money
- The NHS will get the extra cash at first to help sort out the backlog in the health service, which will then swap to social care from April 2023 onwards
- Over 65s who are working will have to pay some National Insurance in a bid to make it fairer for younger Brits
- The PM, Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak will hold a press conference this afternoon to lay out the plans
- A basic rate taxpayer will pay an extra £100 a year but those on more cash will pay around £200
- Employers will also be asked to cough up extra cash too
The promise-breaking proposals have been blasted by senior Tories and sparked a blazing Cabinet row.
It's rumoured that several ministers including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Liz Truss are unhappy with the plan to raise taxes.
At the 2019 general election Mr Johnson promised not to raise national insurance, as well as income tax and VAT, which he will now have to break.
Tory MPs fear that breaking a key manifesto pledge could spell disaster at the ballot box and see them lose trust with voters.
The PM wants pensioners to pay for the first £80,000 of their care - and anything else will be paid by the Government.
Anyone with assets under £100,000 will be eligible for state support to pay for care.
The PM said today that Covid has changed the NHS and it's only with the extra cash can the backlog be tackled and social care system fixed
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This "cap and floor" plan was first suggested by top economist Andrew Dilnot 10 years ago.
There is anger that young workers are being expected to chip in for elderly care.
Pensioners don't pay national insurance - but many have large houses worth a lot of money.
That poorer workers are expected to shoulder the cost of care for someone wealthier strikes many as unfair.
As senior Tory Jake Berry said: "It doesn't really seem to me reasonable that people who are going to work in my own constituency in east Lancashire, probably on lower wages than many other areas of the country, will pay tax to support people to keep hold of their houses in other parts of the country where house prices may be much higher."
Mr Johnson is under huge political pressure to lay out his blueprint to fix social care.
On becoming PM in July 2019, he stood on the steps of Downing Street and claimed to have a ready-made solution.
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More than two years later and voters are fast becoming impatient there's been no sign of it.
Downing Street is also hoping to use the pandemic as cover, claiming Covid was unforeseeable and justifies ministers changing their minds.
