United Kingdom: Mr. Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, has stated that ministers will need to address the issue of raising the state pension age to 68 in the next parliament, despite having postponed the decision due to concerns over life expectancy.

Although it is likely to be a matter for his successor to handle, Mr. Stride emphasised that people would still receive a decade’s notice.

While there are currently no plans to modify the triple lock on raising pensions in the Conservative manifesto, Mr. Stride did not guarantee its retention. Mr. Stride made the remarks as he addressed journalists at a lunch in Westminster, when he was asked whether the government will attempt to revisit its plans to raise the pension age in future in light of riots and protests in France.

The work and pensions secretary, a close ally of UK President Rishi Sunak, stated that “I don’t think it’s in our national psyche to start rioting and burning things over the state pension. Ultimately, I took the decision [to delay] because of COVID and economic uncertainties and the fact that the important thing is you give people 10 years notice of any change.”

“There is a real tension because if you look at the OBR’s fiscal sustainability reports projecting 50 years, the demographic changes and the costs of pensions are really weighing in the wrong direction. So there is a point in time at which the nettle will have to be grasped, but it doesn’t need to be grasped until somebody other than me is in the [job],” Mr. Stride added, suggesting he does not see himself being work and pensions secretary after the next election.

Asked about the triple lock on pensions, which guarantees that payments rise by the higher of inflation, earnings, or 2.5 percent, Mr. Stride said there were “not any plans currently to abandon it. I think the triple lock is a decision for the PM and others, and there are no plans to change the triple lock.”

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