The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been urged to scrap an 'outdated' rule affecting millions of state pensioners. Former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair's think tank, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), has called for the abolition of the state pension triple lock, describing it as 'outdated, rigid and increasingly unaffordable'.
Triple lock under fire
The TBI argues that the triple lock has become a 'long-run cost escalator' and recommends that the Pensions Commission broker a pre-election agreement among major parties to remove it from 2030. Official figures show the number of retirees will rise from 12.6 million today to nearly 19 million by 2070, pushing state pension spending to almost 8% of GDP, making reform 'unavoidable', the institute claims.
Proposed Lifespan Fund
Sir Tony Blair's think tank proposes replacing the current state pension with a new system called the Lifespan Fund. Tom Smith of the TBI stated: 'Britain's state pension system was built for a different era. We can't keep pouring money into a system that is increasingly unaffordable. Pension spending must be contained, and that means the triple lock cannot continue after the next election. Real reform must also build a better system – one that is fairer, more flexible, and designed for how people live today.'
Criticism from former pensions minister
However, the proposal has faced criticism. Sir Steve Webb, a former Liberal Democrat and Conservative pensions minister, expressed concerns: 'The idea of linking state pension payments to individual health records and individual life expectancy is deeply troubling. Leaving aside issues of confidentiality and data quality, it is very hard to make a precise leap from health records to life expectancy. We have just created a new state pension system which is relatively simple and standardised and which forms a firm basis for retirement planning. It would be a huge backward step to replace it with something fiendishly complex and highly intrusive, and which would take many decades to implement in full.'
