Threat to pensions as Jeremy Hunt tears up Liz Truss’s economic plans

Prime minister in fight for her job as Tory MPs warn she has only weeks to prove she should stay

The future of the “triple lock” protection for state pensions was tonight thrown into doubt after new chancellor Jeremy Hunt refused to commit himself to keeping it.

Charities voiced alarm over the chancellor’s words, which stand in stark contrast to previous promises from Liz Truss and Mr Hunt’s predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng to keep the lock, which guarantees pensions will rise with the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent.

Age UK said older Britons of modest means face “deep hardship this winter unlike anything most of us have seen before.”