Kemi Badenoch in row over pension triple-lock interview question

Kemi Badenoch has come under fire after she was asked whether the Conservative Party would look at the triple-lock pension system in a radio interview.

The leader of the opposition was asked on LBC on Thursday evening about how certain people benefit from the triple-lock when, the caller claimed, they do not need it.

The current system ensures state pensions rise by whichever is highest out of the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5 per cent.

Ms Badenoch responded by saying that was the kind of policy she wanted to have “looked at”.

When asked by host Iain Dale if she meant she wanted to look at the triple-lock system, the opposition leader responded: “No, we are going to look at means-testing. Means-testing is something which we don’t do properly here.”

She then criticised the government’s new policy of means-testing the winter fuel payment.

“I always said, for example, that millionaires should not be getting the winter fuel payment,” Ms Badenoch said.

“But what Rachel Reeves has done is the extreme version of that, where people who are actually on the breadline have had their winter fuel payment taken away.

“We don’t have a system that knows who should get what. That’s the sort of thing that we need to be looking at.”

She pointed out the triple-lock policy was something the Tories supported throughout its 14 years in government after it was enacted by David Cameron in 2010, but “we need to make sure we are growing”.

The Conservative Party leader added: “Starting with the triple-lock is not how to solve the problem. We need to start with, why are we not making the same kind of money we used to make?

“I tell people we’ve started living off our inheritance, we’re living off the work that previous generations did.

“We’ve got to give something to the next generation. What are we leaving them with? That’s what we’ve got to sort out.

“We can’t just make ourselves comfortable now spending their future. We need to give them a future.”

Her comments came after a speech on Thursday in which she admitted to a series of mistakes previous Conservative governments had made and accused Labour of repeating the same errors.

A Labour Party spokesperson criticised Ms Badenoch’s comments, claiming she had suggested the Tories were planning to cut state pensions. This would be a major policy shift for the party.

They said: “Kemi Badenoch has put pensioners on notice – she’s going to cut your state pension.

“The Labour government has taken tough action to clean up the mess the Tories left our economy in, meaning we can guarantee a £470 cash boost for pensioners in April.

“The Tories have let the mask slip though and are happy to leave pensioners worse off. Yet again, the Conservatives haven’t listened and they haven’t learned.”

A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, part of the coalition that introduced the triple-lock system, said: “Bungling Badenoch has finally come up with her first new policy, slashing the state pension.

“The Liberal Democrats are proud we introduced the triple-lock and will fight tooth and nail against Conservative attempts to weaken it.”

Ms Badenoch has been called on to “urgently clarify” what she meant.

Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride, however, recently said the triple-lock was “unsustainable”.