Ed Davey commits Lib Dems to pensions triple lock under any circumstances
Sir Ed Davey has insisted the Liberal Democrats will continue to support the pensions triple lock under any circumstances.
The policy means the state pension has to rise in line with wages, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is higher – each year, with the government taking the decision in the autumn ahead of it being implemented the following April.
The 13-year-old pledge has been back in the news in recent weeks, with a debate raging over whether it is a fair protection for pensioners amid a cost of living crisis, or a costly pledge paid for by struggling working-aged people.
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And there are currently questions looming over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as to whether they will stick to the policy in full or adjust the goalposts to save some cash – though Downing Street has insisted they are committed to the triple lock.
But Sir Ed said it was his party that brought the idea into government and, no matter what, it would continue to have his backing.
Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips show during his party’s annual conference in Bournemouth, the leader said: “The Liberal Democrats first came up with the triple lock… the Tories weren’t keen on it [but] we introduced it and we think it has been very successful.
“The Conservatives broke the link between pensions and earnings back in 1980. For 30 years, British pensioners fell behind the rest of Europe and we became bottom of the league for the state pension.
“Countries that are much less wealthy than us were paying their pensioners, [still] are paying their pensioners more, so the triple lock from the Liberal Democrats was designed to try to begin to rectify that.”
Reports suggest the chancellor and prime minister have been discussing the future of the policy ahead of the next election
Sir Ed also said his party would not look to reduce or remove inheritance tax after reports this weekend claimed it was a move being considered by Mr Sunak ahead of the next election.
Also appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, made his distaste for the tax clear, calling it “particularly punitive and unfair”.
But he said the government is currently in “a fiscal straightjacket”, and the chancellor has already told the press “he doesn’t see room for tax cuts”.
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Defence Secretary Grant Shapps says inheritance tax is ‘punitive and unfair’
Asked about the Lib Dem position, Sir Ed said: “It is really clear when a Conservative leader is in trouble [as] they reach for the inheritance tax gig. They’ve done it before but they have never delivered on it.
“And I think people reading that should look at the Conservatives’ record on tax. They have raised taxes for people on lower incomes and the idea that they should now be talking about inheritance tax is quite preposterous. It would be a tax cut for the wealthiest.”
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Paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has died after being attacked in prison.
Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year jail term for multiple sexual offences, including serious crimes against young children and babies at HMP Wakefield, in West Yorkshire.
He was attacked with a knife by another inmate on Saturday morning, sources have confirmed.
West Yorkshire Police said two men, aged 25 and 43, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
A police van outside Wakefield prison. Pic: YappApp
Watkins was pronounced dead at the scene after prison staff reported the assault to police.
The prison went into lockdown in the immediate aftermath of the incident, sources added.
A Prison Service spokesperson said they could not comment while the police investigate.
Watkins was previously stabbed in an incident at the same prison in 2023, suffering non life-threatening injuries after he was reportedly taken hostage by three other inmates before being freed by prison officers six hours later.
He was sentenced in December 2013 to 29 years in prison, with a further six years on licence, after admitting 13 sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.
Watkins performing in 2004. Pic: PA
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He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child sexual abuse videos, some of which he had made himself.
At the time, police described him as a “committed, organised paedophile”.
Having found fame in Welsh rock band Lostprophets, Watkins was arrested after his Pontypridd home was searched on orders of a drug warrant in September 2012.
A large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized during the search.
When sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court, the singer was told he was being given an extended sentence – and a judge said his crimes “plumbed new depths of depravity”.
After being caught with a mobile phone behind bars in 2019, he told a court that he was locked up with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
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