Mario says ‘only the Conservatives have a clear plan for pensioners’ and welcomes new Triple Lock Plus to cut taxes for pensioners

• The Conservative Government have cut tax for working people by reducing National Insurance from 12 per cent to 8 per cent. Now they will cut tax for pensioners too.
• From next April the Conservatives will increase the personal allowance for pensioners in line with the Triple Lock by introducing a new age-related allowance – a tax cut of around
• £100 for 8 million pensioners. They will guarantee in legislation that the pensioners’ personal allowance will rise in line with the highest of earnings, prices or 2.5 per cent so it is higher than the state pension in each year of the next Parliament: the new Triple Lock Plus.
• This is delivering on a core Conservative value that those who have worked hard during their lives should have dignity and security in retirement. Labour will hit pensioners with a Retirement Tax by dragging the State Pension into income tax for the first time, raiding pensioners just like the last Labour government.

Mario has welcomed the Conservatives’ new Triple Lock Plus, cutting taxes for pensioners and guaranteeing people will never pay income tax on their State Pension.

After committing to protect the Triple Lock earlier this year, the Conservatives will go further to boost pensioners’ incomes if they win the next election. In addition to uprating the State Pension in line with the highest of prices, earnings, or 2.5 per cent, the tax-free personal allowance for pensioners will also rise by the Triple Lock – guaranteeing that the State Pension is always below the tax-free threshold.

This means that pensioners will never pay income tax on their State Pension, as the Conservatives continue to deliver on their clear plan to provide dignity and security in retirement.

As a result of the Triple Lock Plus, the average pensioner will see an increase in the State Pension of £428 next year alongside an income tax cut of £95. By the end of the Parliament, it will be a boost of £1,677 a year to their pension and further £275 a year tax cut.

The Triple Lock Plus builds on the Conservative Government’s strong track record of protecting people who worked hard all their lives after their retirement.

The Conservatives first introduced the Triple Lock in 2011, which has seen the State Pension increase by more than £3,700 since they entered office – which is £990 more than if it had been uprated by prices, and £1,000 more than if it had been uprated by earnings since 2010.

Meanwhile Labour have refused to back the Triple Lock Plus and would oversee the State Pension be dragged into income tax for the first time in history if they entered government.

Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan to support pensioners and will take the bold action needed to deliver financial security and dignity in retirement. Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour would tax pensioners more, taking them back to square one.

Mario said:

“The Conservatives will always look after people who worked hard all their lives to provide dignity and security to pensioners in retirement, and the Triple Lock we introduced in 2011 is proof of that.

“We have already increased that State Pension by £3,700 since 2010 and I am delighted that our new Triple Lock Plus will guarantee that pensioners will never have to pay income tax on their State Pension.

“Only the Conservatives have a clear plan for pensioners and will take bold action to protect them and deliver security in retirement. Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party betrayed pensioners before and would do it again.”

Mel Stride, Pensions Secretary, said:

“A Conservative government is the only one which can provide pensioners the peace of mind in retirement they deserve.

“Labour’s record speaks for itself. The last Labour government waged an all-out assault on pensioners, with a £118 billion pensions tax raid and an insulting 75p increase to the state pension.

“Sir Keir Starmer can pay lip service to pensioners until he’s blue in the face, but we know it will always be the same old Labour, putting our pensioners at the back of the queue.”

To provide pensioners with dignity and financial security, in the next Parliament the Conservatives will introduce the new Triple Lock Plus. This will comprise of two elements:

• Continuing to uprate the State Pension in line with the Triple Lock: following the £900 increase to State Pension this year next year it will rise by £428. On current forecasts, this will mean the State Pension increases by a further £428 in April next year to over £11,970; and increases by around £1,685 to £13,200 by the end of the Parliament (Office for Budget Responsibility, Long-term economic determinants, March 2024, link).
• Cutting tax for pensioners from next year by legislating to ensure that the tax-free personal allowance for pensioners also rises by the Triple Lock – guaranteeing that the State Pension is always below the tax-free threshold. From April 2025, the Conservatives will increase the personal allowance for pensioners by introducing a new age-related personal allowance, which also increases in line with the highest of prices, earnings or 2.5 per cent – the new Triple Lock Plus. This is a tax cut of around £100 for 8 million pensioners next year – rising to £275 a year by the end of the Parliament.
• The new Triple Lock Plus means that:
  • Next year, the average pensioner will see:
    • An increase in the State Pension of £428
    • An income tax cut of £95
  • By the end of the Parliament, the average pensioner will see:
    • An increase in the State Pension of £1,677 a year
    • An income tax cut of £275 a year
• This policy is fully funded through our clear plan to tackle tax avoidance and evasion. This policy will cost £2.4 billion a year by 2029-30. It will be funded through our plan to raise an extra £6 billion a year by clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion. It will apply UK-wide.

The Conservatives have a strong record of taking bold action to protect pensioners by…

• Protecting the Triple Lock and uprating the State Pension by £900 from April 2024, protecting pensioners’ incomes. The Conservative Government protected the Triple Lock they introduced in 2011 and uprated the State Pension by 8.5 per cent this April in line with average earnings growth, meaning pensioners are receiving up to £900 more a year (HM Treasury, Autumn Statement 2023, 22 November 2023, link).
• Increasing the State Pension by £3,700 since 2010, delivering on our promise to provide dignity in retirement. From 1 April 2024, the Conservatives will have increased the basic State Pension by £3,700 since 2010 in cash terms – which is £990 more than if it had been uprated by prices, and £1,000 more than if it had been uprated by earnings since 2010 – ensuring pensioners have the income they need to live in dignity thanks to the Triple Lock (HM Treasury, Spring Budget 2024, 6 March 2024, link).
• Reducing the number of pensioners living in absolute poverty by more than 200,000 since 2010, supporting those most in need. Since 2010, there are 200,000 fewer pensioners living in absolute poverty after housing costs, as the Conservative Government protect the most vulnerable in society (UK Parliament, Hansard, 13 September 2023, link; DWP, Stat-Xplore, accessed 25 September 2023, link).
• Providing pensioners with Winter Fuel Payments, free eye tests, NHS prescriptions and free bus passes. All pensioners receive a Winter Fuel Payment each winter to help pay energy bills, and pensioners on a low income may be eligible for additional help including a Council Tax discount, free TV licence and help with NHS dental treatment, glasses and transport costs (UK Government, Winter Fuel Payment, accessed 28 May 2024, link; UK Government, Pension Credit, accessed 28 May 2024, link).

Meanwhile Labour will drag the State Pension into income tax – waging an all-out assault on pensioners just like the last Labour government did:

• Labour will hit pensioners with a Retirement Tax by dragging the State Pension into income tax for the first time in the next Parliament. Because the State Pension rises faster than inflation, the new State Pension is forecast to increase to a level higher than the personal income tax allowance from April 2027. This would drag millions of pensioners into paying income tax for the first time (BBC Breakfast, 28 May 2024, archived).
• Labour’s pensions tax raid wiped at least £118 billion off the value of people’s pensions. Between 1997 and 2013-14, the abolition of payable tax credits for pension schemes cost £117.97 billion (OBR, Budget/PBR/Autumn Statement measures database, 23 April 2014, archived).
• Because Labour didn’t have the Triple Lock, pensions sometimes barely rose at all – including by a paltry 75 pence in 2000. In 1999, Gordon Brown announced a derisory increase of the Basic State Pension – from £66.75 per week to £67.50 (The Daily Telegraph, 18 June 2000, link).
• Labour’s new tax adviser called pensioners ‘codgers’, said they have ‘had it ridiculously good’ and argued they should pay national insurance. Edward Troup, Labour’s new tax adviser, said that today’s pensioners ‘had it ridiculously good’, adding that it is a ‘complete disgrace’ that pensioners aren’t paying national insurance and we should be ‘looking [to tax] the codgers’ (Resolution Foundation, A taxing election: Do the parties’ tax plans match up to the needs of modern Britain?, 13 November 2019, link).