Foreign Secretary James Cleverly stated that he cannot provide “confidence” regarding pension increases for the coming year.
Two weeks ago, the prime minister stated that she would adhere to the triple lock, meaning that payments would increase by the greater of prices, average salaries, or 2.5%.
However, her spokeswoman stated on Tuesday that she was “not making any guarantees” regarding government spending.
Labour has indicated that it will maintain the pensions triple lock.
Later, Liz Truss will face MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions for the first time since dismissing her chancellor and reversing nearly all of the tax cuts her government announced last month.
While the PM’s team believes Ms. Truss’s dialogue with MPs this week has been cordial and strengthened her position, she remains under great pressure after abandoning her signature initiatives.
One of the Prime Minister’s allies stated that she was determined to continue with her duties, but at noon, she will face questioning from Labour and her own party’s backbenchers in the House of Commons.
Questioning the government’s continued commitment to the triple lock.
“I am aware that your audience would expect me to provide certainty at this time. The announcements will be made in the very, very near future by the chancellor, who is not in a position to do so “he stated.
“To ensure proper management of the economy, we must do the right thing. We must ensure that our borrowing costs do not increase, as this would influence inflation and these bills.”
On October 31, the new chancellor Jeremy Hunt is scheduled to make a statement regarding the government’s tax and spending plans.
All government ministries have been instructed to find savings, and Mr. Hunt has not ruled out additional tax increases and spending cuts to reassure financial markets and reduce UK debt.
Inflation is running at a 40-year high of 10.1%, which means that wages, pensions, and benefits are not keeping up with the cost of living.
A decision on how much to increase pensions by April of next year has not yet been made but is generally expected this fall.
The triple lock has been in effect since it was implemented by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government, except for a one-year hiatus during the pandemic.
According to the Resolution Foundation, boosting pensions based on wages instead of inflation would save the government £6 billion next year.
Boris Johnson’s predecessor, Ms. Truss, had pledged to increase benefits by inflation. However, the government has refused to make this commitment. The subject dominated the Birmingham Tory party conference, and violating prior pensions and benefits agreements is expected to attract criticism from many Tory MPs.
Wednesday’s front pages of formerly supporting newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express, also criticized the prime minister for failing to commit to the triple lock.
Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary, stated that Labour was committed to maintaining the triple lock and boosting benefits by inflation.
However, when pressed about the subject, shadow leveling up secretary Lisa Nandy was less categorical.
While she stated that the party was committed to indexing benefit increases to inflation, she stated that the government could not predict what it would do with pensions in two years since it did not know what the economic climate would be.
She told, however, that the protection of retirees will be “a priority” for the next Labour government.
As she fights to save her leadership, Ms. Truss’s performance in PMQs, only her third since taking office, will be heavily monitored.
Now, five of her MPs have officially demanded that she resign, and many more have privately stated she must go.
To compel her resignation, letters of no confidence are being considered as a strategy for her removal.
Moreover, there have been rumors that certain members of parliament could convince party officials to change the rules to permit an early leadership challenge.
However, there is little consensus over who should replace Ms. Truss if she is ousted.
Members of the Conservative Party appear to be turning against Ms. Truss, even though the majority support her candidacy for prime minister.
55% of 530 members surveyed by YouGov believe she should quit.
