Labour vows to keep triple lock pensions protection in Portsmouth

Stephen Morgan, Labour’s candidate for Portsmouth South, said his party was committed to keeping a ‘triple lock’ protection on pensions.

The policy safeguards pensioners’ standards of living by guaranteeing that their incomes rise to meet the cost of living but is one that could be scrapped by a new Tory government.

Mr Morgan said that under the Tories watch some 300,000 more pensioners are in poverty.

He said: ‘The Tories’ failure to guarantee a decent standard of living for older people, cuts to social care and their failure to protect the NHS are proof that they no longer care for older people. Portsmouth’s pensioners deserve better.’

‘With more pensioners in poverty under the Tories, it is clear only Labour will provide a secure and dignified retirement for the many who have contributed all their lives.

‘From the pensioners I have spoken with on the doorstep, this triple lock proposal will be welcome news here in Portsmouth.’

Conservative candidate for Portsmouth South, Flick Drummond, hit back and said pensioners are now £1,250 better off a year since the Tories came to power in 2010.

She added: ‘The prime minister has already said that pensioner incomes will continue to increase and only the Conservatives can achieve this because we are the party that will deliver a strong economy.’