State pension triple lock 'will have to be scrapped' if Putin starts WW3
High-profile spending items like the triple lock and benefits could be scrapped to cover troop mobilisation against Russia (Image: Getty)If Britain were to go to war with Russia's Vladimir Putin, the state pension triple lock would need to be scrapped, defence and Whitehall insiders believe. Funding a war effort puts a huge strain on Government defence funding and would push spending far beyond the current target of 2.5% of GDP by 2027.As a result, high-profile spending items would need to be scaled back, suspended or shelved to fund a massive mobilisation of extra troops, equipment and civilian defence, with securities such as the triple lock, benefits and net-zero potentially on the line. While the Government has insisted it is already increasing defence spending as a deterrence against all-out war, there are fears in Whitehall that a conflict could be triggered by a miscalculation.There are currently no plans to scrap the triple lock and Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has committed to keeping it for the rest of this Parliament (Image: Getty)There are currently no plans to scrap the triple lock and Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has committed to keeping it for the rest of this Parliament - no later than July 2029.However, if World War 3 were to break out, public spending across the board would need to be looked at to bolster the UK’s military response, sources said.Britain and its NATO allies are already locked in a high-stakes "hybrid war" with Russia, operating in what military experts call the sub-threshold environment. This is a state of permanent confrontation that sits dangerously close to open conflict without ever triggering a full-scale military response under NATO's collective defence clause (Article 5).The UK plans to increase defence spending to 3.5% by 2035 (Image: Getty)In response, the UK has stepped up its military and civilian defence planning, including increasing spending for next year, with plans to increase it to 3.5% by 2035.Now, a number of high-profile figures, including Sir Tony Blair's think tank, the TBI, have called for the triple lock – which guarantees the state pension will rise by whichever is higher between inflation, 2.5% or increases in earnings – to be scrapped and replaced with a new system as it is becoming increasingly unaffordable, according to The i Paper. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) last year forecast that the extra cost of the triple lock to state pension spending will be around £15.5billion by 2030.Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who co-wrote last year’s Strategic Defence Review, agrees that choices would need to be made if a war were to break out, with the triple lock likely at risk.The UK Government has committed to keeping the triple lock for the rest of this Parliament (Image: Getty)“I do not know whether the triple lock is seen as part of this [funding], but the triple lock is seen by many as not only unaffordable but also inordinately favours the grey over the young," he said.Only the Green Party has made it official policy to axe the triple lock.A Government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to the triple lock is worth £470 a year to those receiving the new state pension, and we have launched a Pensions Commission to look at what more is required to ensure the pensions system is strong, fair and sustainable.“This Government is delivering record investment into defence, with over £270bn in defence across this Parliament and the Strategic Defence Review sets out how we’re moving to warfighting readiness.”
