• Sunak’s Triple Lock Plus would be wiped out by £1,000 stealth tax on pensioners
• Briefing: Five ways the Conservative Party has betrayed pensioners

Sunak’s Triple Lock Plus would be wiped out by £1,000 stealth tax on pensioners

Responding to the Conservative Party’s announcement on a “Triple Lock Plus” for pensioners, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

Rishi Sunak’s stealth tax hikes will blow a £1,000 hole in pensioners’ pockets by 2027, over four times more than what he is giving back with this meagre announcement.

The Conservative Party has hammered pensioners with years of unfair tax hikes and broken their word on the triple lock. People won’t be fooled by yet another empty promise from Rishi Sunak after this record of failure.

Liberal Democrats are proud we brought in the triple lock and will continue to stand up for the millions of pensioners who have been so badly let down by this Conservative government.

Briefing: Five ways the Conservative Party has betrayed pensioners

• Hitting 8 million pensioners with an average £1,000 stealth tax hike: According to the Resolution Foundation, the freezing of tax thresholds will mean the average taxpaying pensioner will lose around £1,000 by 2027-28. All 8 million taxpaying pensioners will see their taxes increase, by an average of £1,000 – an £8 billion collective hit (Resolution Foundation briefing, March 2024, p.24).

• Dragging 1.6 million pensioners into paying income tax: House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has found that by 2027/28, 1.6 million additional pensioners will be paying income tax compared to if the Personal Allowance had been increased in line with inflation. Full research available here, first reported by the Telegraph.

• Breaking their manifesto pledge on the triple lock: The Conservative Party suspended the triple lock in 2021, breaking another manifesto pledge (ITV News).

• Breaking a manifesto commitment to fix the social care crisis: Successive Conservative Governments have promised to publish a plan to improve social care. Alzheimers UK found that families are being forced to shoulder 63% of the cost of dementia care – equivalent to £51,000 a year on average (reported by The i).

• Breaking a promise that no-one will have to pay their house to pay for care: Boris Johnson pledged in 2019 that no-one would have to sell their house to pay for social care under a Conservative government (Telegraph). In 2020, more than 17,000 pensioners were forced to sell their homes to pay for social care (research by Money Mail reported in the Daily Mail)