The pensions guarantee was introduced in 2010, and required the Government to raise the level of pension payments by whichever is the highest of three measures: inflation, the average increase in wages across the UK or 2.5%.  The link to inflation is therefore explicit under the terms of the triple lock.  The average increase in wages is an alternative measure but currently does not exceed the relevant measure of inflation.  In the ECU’s view the issue was not the respective eligibility of wealthy or less wealthy pensioners to income from the state, but the rate at which pension payments across the board should be increased.  It was also a matter of record that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury had warned that big increases in salaries to meet the rising cost of living could lead to a 1970s-style “inflationary spiral”.

As part of the item, the programme carried an interview with a younger worker who complained about the cost of living.  In the ECU’s view this was appropriate in the context, as it emphasised the effect of the rising cost of living.  The only pensioner who suggested that he did not need an increased pension from the state was Lord Clarke, and it was clear that he was speaking from a personal point of view and was not seeking to imply that all pensioners were well insulated from cost of living pressures.  On matters of fact in relation to a link between inflation and state pensions, the broadcast was therefore duly accurate, and in relation to due impartiality it did not present one generation as being inherently more deserving of financial support than another.
Not upheld