BUDGET: The scary truth about the triple lock - as Budget confirms key detail and expert has solution that Rachel Reeves could use

We asked our Newspager experts what they thought of the think of the state pension rise -and the continuation of the triple lock.

Scott Gallacher, director at Leicester-based Rowley Turton said the Triple Lock had long outlived its original purpose and was in effect a political bribe used by Labour and the Conservatives to woo pensioners who ‘voted in their droves’.

Gallacher said: "The Triple Lock was introduced by Labour to boost the State Pension and to reverse years of erosion under the Conservatives—who infamously severed the link between earnings and the pension But it was only intended as a corrective measure. 

"Instead, it has become a millstone around the Chancellor’s neck.Yet, because the retired vote in their droves whilst the young stay away from the polling booth.

"No government can politically afford to reform it.Consequently, today’s pensioners will continue to receive above-inflation pay rises funded by younger workers. However, the long-term viability of the Triple Lock remains an open—and politically inconvenient—question."

Rob Mansfield, independent financial adviser at Tonbridge-based Rootes Wealth Management said reform of the Triple Lock was overdue.

"The triple lock is clearly a political bribe on the logic that older people tend to vote. 

"It's increasingly expensive as the country ages and so reform is overdue. Not having a set mechanism in place though, risks pensioners facing the same freezes that income tax and inheritance tax thresholds see. 

"An easy solution could be to peg it to the personal allowance. A harder, but better solution would be to monitor pensioner poverty and tweak the level so that it minimises poverty without discouraging saving for retirement."

Eamonn Prendergast, chartered financial adviser at Bromley-based Palantir Financial Planning Ltd commented:

"The triple lock hasn’t just out-lived its purpose it’s becoming a stealth tax on the future.” 

"A 4.8% rise may sound generous, but it’s just paper-over-the-cracks. With frozen tax-free allowances, many pensioners will end up paying more in tax the boost could eat itself within a year. Meanwhile, the growing cost to the state means working-age people, younger generations and public services will pay the price down the line. 

"If pension increases keep outrunning fiscal capacity, the triple lock becomes less a guarantee and more a ticking financial time bomb.”"