What is all the fuss about the triple lock – and how will it affect voters?

As the chancellor announces his commitment to the long-standing policy on pension rates, Sean O’Grady asks if this is a wise move on the part of the Conservatives – and how they might be planning to pay for it

Jeremy Hunt has announced the decision in an effort to maximise the political advantage it will elicit among older voters (PA)

In what may yet prove a more significant move than his cuts to national insurance, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has said the Conservatives will retain the triple lock system to determine annual rises in the state pension if they win the election. Hunt says the pledge will appear in the next Conservative manifesto. The decision raises some interesting questions...

What’s the triple lock again?

It’s a commitment to increase the level of the state pension applicable to any given individual by either the rate of inflation (as measured by the consumer prices index); the rate at which wages are going up; or 2.5 per cent, whichever is the greater. It has been policy, with one temporary suspension, since 2010, when the idea – which the Liberal Democrats came up with – was incorporated into the policies of the coalition government and the Conservatives adopted it as their own.