Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson has challenged the Conservatives’ position on pensions after leaked remarks revealed that shadow cabinet member Katie Lam had advocated a fundamental overhaul of the system.
Labour’s party chair accused the Conservatives of inconsistency as they oppose the government’s proposed changes to pension increases.
Phillipson: ‘falling apart’
“The Tories’ position on pensions is falling apart,” Phillipson said.
“Only Labour will protect a rising state pension while building a new National Care Service.”
The intervention follows a Times report published on Friday about remarks Lam made to Conservative activists in June, before her promotion to shadow housing, communities and local government secretary.
According to the newspaper, Lam suggested that an “entirely new pension system” would eventually be needed, with greater reliance on private pension savings. Her observation that the state would have to do “dramatically less” was made in a wider discussion of public spending and pensions.
Those comments were not an announcement of Conservative policy. The party continues to support the existing triple lock, and Lam reaffirmed that commitment when responding to the report.
Phillipson’s criticism nevertheless highlights the tension between that public position and a senior Conservative’s privately expressed argument for more radical reform.
Labour’s pension plan
Labour’s proposals, announced by Prime Minister Andy Burnham on 29 September, would retain the current triple lock until April 2030. It currently increases the state pension by whichever is highest: inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5%.
From April 2030, the proposed replacement would guarantee annual increases of at least inflation or 2.5%, with an additional safeguard maintaining the pension’s value relative to earnings over time.
Pensions would therefore continue rising, although government spending would be lower than if the existing triple lock continued unchanged.
The government intends to use those savings to help fund a phased National Care Service providing free personal care for older people in England. Baroness Casey’s independent commission is due to recommend how the service should be developed in summer 2027.
The plans are not yet implemented. Phillipson is making Labour’s case for combining a growing pension with better care, while challenging the Conservatives to reconcile their public commitments with the views expressed within their own front bench.
