Protect our pensions: Hunt attempts to avoid paying out with 'sneaky' changes planned for Triple Lock

Pensions are expected to see a boost of 8.5 percent, which mirrors the increase in wages in the three months to July 2023.

As a result of the triple lock, pensions will increase by more than inflation.

But speaking on the expected boost to pensions, Stride said: "There clearly is a difference if you take into account the non-consolidated elements of pay in recent times, but these are all decisions that I have to take with the chancellor as part of a very clear process, a statutory process actually, that I go through in the autumn.

"So I didn't want to get into the weeds of exactly how I'm going to go about that.

"But the overarching point about the triple lock is that we remain committed to it."

But asked whether he was not ruling out using a lower figure based on earnings without bonuses, he said: "I'm not going to get drawn into those kinds of questions."

It comes as the news broke that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering tweaking the formula surrounding the triple lock that would strip out bonus payments from the earnings figure used to calculate the state pension.

This is despite Downing Street insisting they remain “committed” to the triple lock despite its cost.

One senior Treasury source told The Times: “It is something that is naturally being looked at given the wider economic situation,” they said.

“Officials are drawing up policy proposals for ministers, but at this point no final decision has been taken.”

William Hague has called for the state pension triple lock to be scrapped, claiming it is "unsustainable" and "unfair".

While he admitted that the policy should not be axed overnight, he said it should be "unpicked" slowly over the years.

The triple lock guarantees that the state pension will rise by at least the rate of inflation, earnings growth, or 2.5 per cent every year.

But Hague warned that the policy is a "runaway train".

The former Leader of the Conservative Party explained: "If you increase a number each year by the highest of three measures, and which measure is highest varies from year to year, you will steadily increase that number by more — perhaps considerably more — than all of the three measures."

Reacting to the latest earnings figures, John O’Connell from the Taxpayers Alliance echoed Hague's concerns, saying: "The triple lock is placing unsustainable pressure on the public finances, limiting scope for much-needed tax cuts which would benefit everyone.

“While pensioners deserve to be protected from inflation, it is unfair on workers who have been playing catch up with price rises to insist that they fund inflation-busting pension boosts, particularly with the tax burden at a 70-year high.

“Until the government reforms the triple lock to ensure fairness for pensioners and workers alike, tax cuts for all will be harder to afford.”

Neither of the two main parties has committed to keeping the triple lock at the next election.

When asked at the G20, the Prime Minister refused to say whether or not the guarantee will appear in the party's manifesto at the next election, saying: "We’re not going to speculate on the election manifesto now."

But their failure to commit to the policy so has sparked anger from pension campaigners.

Dennis Reed from campaign group Silver voices said the failure to commit to the policy is "insulting", saying the triple lock is essential for a "dignified retirement".

Meanwhile, Labour peer Lord Foulkes, who is the Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Older People, told the Express that scrapping the triple lock would be a "complete betrayal".

He said: "British pensioners who rely on the state pension are among the poorest in Europe and urgently need the increase the ratchet effect of the triple lock gives.

"Those who have other income in retirement can have it clawed back by the tax system.

"Older people’s organisations should take this as a red alert to maintain and intensify our campaign to keep the triple lock."