RISHI Sunak faces a new Cabinet rift by hinting he will curb benefit rises next year and casting doubt on the pensions triple lock.
The PM suggested handouts would rise by the same rate as wages — rather than, as they did this year, by the higher rate of inflation.
But Justice Secretary Alex Chalk publicly warned: “We must do everything we can for the most disadvantaged . . . that’s why we put up the benefits by ten per cent.”
He added that the Government must be “decent, humane and support people”.
Asked if he would be uncomfortable with not raising benefits in line with inflation, he told Sky News: “You can take it as you like.”
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Speaking at the G20 in New Dehli at the weekend, Mr Sunak said: “Benefits this year have gone up by ten per cent, which is a huge amount, obviously.”
He said it amounted to £600 extra for a typical Universal Credit recipient and £800 for pensioners.
And he pointed to other government support on energy bills, adding: “There’s lots of different ways to get support to the people who need it.”
Faced with ballooning pension costs, he also refused to say the vow to raise them by inflation would be in the next Tory manifesto.
Under the triple lock, the state pension rises each year in line with the highest out of 2.5 per cent, wage rises or inflation.
In a report last week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned it could add £45billion a year to the welfare bill by 2050.
This could put “insurmountable pressure” on ministers to raise the pension age faster than planned, the organisation warned.
Pushed if the triple lock will be in his party’s manifesto at the next election, Mr Sunak said: “We’re not going to speculate on the election manifesto now.
“I’ve got plenty to get on with between now and then. But the triple lock is the Government’s policy and has been for a long time.”
Retirees will find out tomorrow how much the state pension will be from next April when the latest average earnings figures are released.
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