Author Archives: Adam Shaw

The Lib Dems created the triple lock – we should be the ones to set the terms for its end

By Adam Shaw | Wed 17th June 2026 - 3:35 pm

When Sir Steve Webb introduced the triple lock as Lib Dem pensions minister in the coalition government, the aim was to close the gap between the state pension and average earnings and reverse years of real-terms decline during which the state pension had not kept up with living costs.

In 2010, the basic state pension was just £97.65 per week, or just over £5,000 per year, for a single person – a truly pitiful amount for someone who had worked for at least 39 or 44 years (depending if you were a man or a woman), even when you consider …