ANDY Burnham today axed the pension triple lock while threatening to reverse Brexit and bring in mass nationalisation in a left-wing speech at Labour’s party conference.
was accused of wanting to take Britain “back to the 1970s” with a that also includes seizing empty private homes and changes to “rig” the voting system.
Experts said the attack on pensions would not be enough to pay for a promised new social care service — with taxes set to rise even further.
The PM sparked for targeting the pot to make billions of pounds of savings.
He made the flagship announcement in his first Labour conference speech that promised a rampant left-wing agenda of mass nationalisation, electoral reform and .
The triple lock currently guarantees the annual state pension will increase by inflation, 2.5 per cent or average yearly earnings, whichever is higher. But from 2030 it will no longer be linked to average earnings.
What did the PM say?
- Burnham has opened the door to
- He paved the way for proportional representation to replace first past the post
- Plans for a new have been confirmed
- Crackdown on negligent landlords to come before Christmas
- We will get a new publicly owned energy company, Great British Grid
- Thatcher’s ban on public ownership of water companies will be scrapped
- Water companies that “repeatedly fail” will be held to account by mayors under new powers
- The
Downing Street said this would free up £15billion by 2040 — roughly £1,136 per pensioner — to pay for a new to help the elderly with crippling costs.
Mr Burnham told the Liverpool rally: “I accept I may pay a political price. But someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip off the plaster.”
Yet last night the plans were unravelling as experts warned this would be nowhere near enough to fund social care.
Top economist Paul Johnson said: “The idea this will pay for free social care any time soon is for the birds. That will mean higher taxes.”
Tory leader agreed “it won’t generate enough savings to fund a nationalised care system for another two decades, which means more tax rises are inevitable”.
Mr Burnham, who lacks his own personal mandate after taking over from Sir Keir Starmer, has kicked any changes beyond the next election.
Last night pension campaigners recoiled in horror at the reforms and warned it could be the PM’s “”, in reference to the backlash at then-Chancellor ’ controversial policy.
Dennis Reed, of campaigners Silver Voices, blasted: “Labour appears intent on committing Hari Kari by driving more older people into pensioner poverty.
“Savings made by will come directly from the pockets of poor pensioners.
“Most, who are on the old state pension of £185 per week, are to have their incomes squeezed even further.”
Reform’s said: “Instead of cutting our , stopping migrants from accessing benefits, or slashing foreign aid, he’s considering launching an offensive against our elderly.”
Several left-wingers also criticised the move, with union boss Sharon Graham saying it would be “almost electoral suicide”.
While earnings will be stripped out of the calculations, Mr Burnham said the state pension would still “hold its value relative to earnings over time so that pensioners will always share in the wealth of the nation”.
Around 12million received a £575 boost to their state pension when it rose by 4.8 per cent in April.
Mr Burnham said he was inspired to end the social care crisis by seeing the treatment his late father Roy went through while he had .
He said: “Some may not realise it but older people with nothing more than the state pension can find themselves paying care charges today.
“Under my plan, this will no longer happen. So this is the deal. A state pension that rises every year. No care charges. And a high-quality National Care Service to give peace of mind in later life.” The National Care Service will cover personal care costs — but not the residential costs of a home.
Mr Burnham’s first leader’s speech to the party faithful was applauded by wife Marie-France Van Heel.
He later as he paid tribute to his father and recalled the day he died earlier this month.
The PM’s speech outlined a Big State plan of public control of key utilities. He declared he would reverse ex-Tory PM ’s ban on public ownership of water companies, receiving a rapturous applause.
He told the conference hall Labour will kick-start a ten-year journey to a very different water system.
Mr Burnham said: “Mayors will have new powers to hold water companies to account, with tougher consequences for those which repeatedly fail. It will close the loopholes used to pay excessive bonuses.”
He said he will be “pragmatic” about the North Sea, opening the door for more oil and gas drilling.
SUN MANIFESTO WATCH
LAST Saturday, The Sun set out our blueprint for a Better Britain ahead of the Labour and Tory Party conferences, featuring a ten-point plan to fix the nation.
Here’s how PM Andy Burnham fared ticking those boxes in yesterday’s speech…
HOME GRAB PLAN
By
LANDLORDS could be forced to hand over their properties under Labour plans to crack down on poor rental homes.
Councils will be given more power to seize homes and bring them up to scratch.
The PM pledged to give landlords a warning to make improvements.
He said: “We will give councils the power to take control of them.” He also committed to more council houses and reform of the leasehold sector.
The Labour leader said one of the biggest barriers to growth was the cost of energy. But he failed to commit to increasing defence spending to three per cent of GDP by 2030.
The PM promised to lead a country which was “able to meet its obligations” of 3.5 per cent by 2035, but not on the earlier target.
And there was only a fleeting mention of the small boats crisis, though he did praise Home Secretary for making progress on the issue.
The speech was applauded by party grassroots. But Ms Badenoch piled in: “Andy Burnham delivered a speech for the , not the country. Burnham wants to take Britain back to the 1970s, a time of more government control, more trade union control and no economic growth. There is a reason our country took a different course after that decade.
“Nothing Burnham announced today will do anything to fix Britain’s long-term problems. He had no plan to fix our stagnant economy. No plan to fund defence. No plan to sort out the spiralling welfare bill, beyond more government schemes.”
And Shadow Chancellor MP said: “It’s official: Andy Burnham wants to cut your pension. It’s just mean.
“Why is it always pensioners who are asked to be the first to make sacrifices?
“We didn’t hear a peep from Burnham on cutting the benefits bill, foreign aid or net zero subsidies.
“But that’s not all. Burnham said he was being honest but what he didn’t say was there was a gaping black hole in his numbers.”
