Brecon & Radnorshire Pensioners Set to be Hit By Removal of Triple Lock:
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have published figures showing that Brecon and Radnorshire is set to be one of the hardest-hit areas of the country after the Government’s decision to break its
manifesto promise and suspend the triple lock on pensions following Conservative MPs voting to approve the change.
Brecon and Radnorshire is set to be the 11th hardest-hit area in the UK and the hardest hit in Wales with 18,792 people or 27.2 per cent of the constituency consisting of state pensioners. Yet the constituency’s MP Fay Jones did not register a vote on the decision.
The figures are based on analysis by the House of Commons Library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment to the Social Security Bill yesterday that called for additional support to address the impact of the pandemic on the two million pensioners currently living in poverty and making the uplift to Universal Credit permanent.
Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid & West Wales MS, Jane Dodds stated: “The Welsh Conservatives have broken yet another manifesto promise that will hit people in the pocket.
“With so many pensioners living in poverty, the triple lock was a guarantee that vulnerable elderly people were relying on. Yet this winter the Government will instead turn its back on the poorest pensioners, some of whom risk no longer being able to heat their homes as energy costs spiral.
“The Conservatives claim that suspending the triple lock is just a temporary move, but how can pensioners have any faith that this is the one promise ministers will keep?
“I and the Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to demand that the Government doesn’t leave pensioners living in poverty high and dry and that we don’t return to the days of the derisory 75p rise to the state pension.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Full data from the House of Commons Library is available
here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1T3GmEX-mNV-
OczBKm45VOGhxBdHivkYLxKzC1OQgj6o/edit?usp=sharing
Sign up
for email updates
