Scots pensioners set to lose £500 a week due to 'cruel and callous' Tory cuts
13.06.2022 - 07:19
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Scots pensioners are set to lose around £500 per year after the Tory Government suspended the triple lock on pensions, according to new research.
The House of Commons library found that those receiving the new state pension (for those reaching pension age on or after April 6, 2016) would receive £9.35 a week less than if the lock was kept in place.
While those on the basic pension (the core amount in the old pension system) are set to lose out on £7.15 a week.
Boris Johnson 's Tory government said it was suspending the triple lock for 2022-23 in order to prevent a large rise in payments following the covid pandemic.
The triple lock refers to the idea of pensions rising in line with the highest of three measures: a 2.5 per rise, average earnings growth from May to July each year or Inflation which is measured in the year from September.
The basic and new state pensions rose by 3.1 per cent from April in line with consumer price index rate of inflation in September 2021.
Had the earnings growth not been suspended then the state pension would have increased by 8.3 per cent.
The SNP has hit out at the "cruel and callous" UK Government for leaving pensioners across the country worse off during a cost of living crisis.
Kirsty Blackman, the SNP 's Work and Pensions spokesperson, said: “To date, under Westminster rule, UK pensioners have the least generous pensions in north west Europe by comparison to the average wage – and this analysis shows things are only getting worse.
"At a time when households across the four nations are choosing between heating their homes and eating, pensioners having £500 removed from their pocket is cruel and callous.
"After a decade of Tory austerity, and multiple decades of Scotland being governed by