Conservatives raid Tiverton & Honiton pensioners of £15m

• Conservative Government looks set to have taken over £15.5m from pensioners in the Tiverton & Honiton constituency since 2022.
• Failing to properly implement the triple lock in 2024 could result in a hit of over £1.7m for the constituency’s pensioners next year.
• This comes after pensioners suffered a major cut in 2022, when the Government opted not to uprate the state pension in line with earnings.

The Conservative Government is reportedly set to break the triple lock once again by not uprating the state pension fully in line with earnings. Rather, the Government is reportedly planning to exclude bonuses. This means pensioners will receive a 7.8% rise in the state pension, not the 8.5% the triple lock should guarantee them.

Liberal Democrat analysis has estimated that this would amount to a cut of over £1.7m for pensioners in Tiverton & Honiton. It comes on top of an even bigger hit that pensioners suffered in 2022, when the government did not uprate pensions in line with earnings as the triple lock requires.

The effect of both cuts could result in an eye-watering hit for local pensioners of more than £15.5million over three years. That equates to each pensioner living in the Tiverton & Honiton constituency receiving a cut of over £550.

The Liberal Democrat party is, as things stand, the only major party to commit to the triple lock in full ahead of the next General Election, offering pensioners security during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Tiverton & Honiton, Richard Foord said:

“Rowing back on the triple lock would be yet another in a long list of broken promises from this Conservative Government.

"Pensioners in Devon should not be forced to suffer due to out-of-touch Conservative Ministers turning their backs on them, especially given ongoing cost-of-living challenges.

“These are people who have worked hard and contributed to society for decades. The least we can do is ensure that they get a fair deal when it is time for them to retire.

"The only way to deliver this and offer much-needed certainty for people is to protect the triple lock in full. Instead, Rishi Sunak and his Government look set to short-change them by hundreds of pounds, all to make up for his own party crashing the economy."