INSIGHT - Conservatives look set to raid pensioners in Bexhill

Triple lock: Conservatives look set to have raided pensioners in Bexhill and Battle constituency of £17,037,687 in just three years.

Conservative government looks set to have taken over £17 million from pensioners in Bexhill and Battle constituency since 2022.

This is because they have failed to properly implement the triple lock in 2024, which could result in a hit of around £1.8 million for Bexhill and Battle pensioners next year alone.

This comes after pensioners suffered a major cut in 2022 when the government opted not to uprate the state pension in line with earnings, instead using CPI.

The Conservative government is reportedly set to break the triple lock once more by not uprating fully in line with earnings, instead they will exclude bonuses meaning that pensioners will receive a 7.8% rise in the state pension, not the 8.5% the triple lock should guarantee them.

Liberal Democrat analysis has estimated this would amount to at least a £1.8 million cut for Bexhill and Battle pensioners. It comes on top of an even bigger hit that pensioners suffered in 2022 when the government did not uprate pensions in line with earnings as the triple lock prescribes. Instead, they uprated by a lower measure, CPI inflation.

The effect of both cuts since 2022 could result in an eye-watering hit for Bexhill and Battle pensioners of £17,037,687 over three years. That equates to a £552 cut for each of our pensioners. It comes as the Liberal Democrats have been the only major party to commit to the triple lock ahead of the next General Election.