A new Labor Party analysis of Bank of England figures has revealed that a pension worth £6,930 thirteen years ago will only see a very marginal increase to £6,934 by next March . Based on prices in 2022, this has fallen by £462 in April this year as soaring inflation – which recently soared to 9.4% – eats away at pension incomes. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Having promised in the general election to help pensioners with the cost of living, the Tories then broke the triple lock.
“It means the state pension has been cut in real terms and pensioners are facing hardship. They deserve so much better.”
Mr Ashworth also took to Twitter to launch a furious attack on the Conservative Party.
He called for “urgent action to help our pensioners” as household energy bills soar and inflation continues to soar.
The shadow secretary for work and pensions wrote: “The Tories have betrayed Britain’s pensioners.
“Pensioners will only earn 8p a week compared to 2009 due to soaring inflation.
“With energy bills still soaring and inflation ravaging economies, we need urgent action to help our retirees.”
In April, pensioners received a 3.1% increase, bringing the basic pension total to £141.85 a week.
Overall, its value has gone from £7,155.20 in 2021 to the current total of £7,376.20 per year.
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But Labor tore up that claim and described it as a ‘smokescreen’ so the Treasury could pocket the savings.
Dennis Reed, from campaign group Silver Voices, the membership organization for older people in the UK, warned that older people “have nowhere to turn with winter approaching”.
He also claimed ‘pensioner poverty will spin out of control’ and wants Tory leadership candidates Mr Sunak and Ms Truss to pledge to guarantee a minimum pension of £200 a week and reintroduce TV licenses free for those over 75.
Mr Reed said: “These figures disprove the notion that older people are better off than most in the face of the cost of living crisis.
“Older people have nowhere to turn with winter approaching, and pensioner poverty will spin out of control.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: ‘The total annual basic state pension is now £2,300 higher than in 2010 and there are 400,000 fewer pensioners in poverty absolute after accommodation costs.”