The state pension triple lock is “completely unsustainable” for Britain’s finances – but scrapping it would be too politically toxic for ministers, MPs and economists have warned.

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have committed to keeping the mechanism despite criticism from economists who say that over time it will prove unaffordable .

The policy states that each year the value of the state pension will increase by the same level as inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent – whichever is the highest.

It guarantees that over the long run, the income of pensioners will grow faster than either the rate of price rises or the salaries of working people, and was introduced to reduce pensioner poverty.

Next year, the state pension is likely to increase by 4.7 per cent, in l

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