Brandon Lewis
Main Page: Brandon Lewis (Conservative - Great Yarmouth)Department Debates - View all Brandon Lewis's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Steve Webb
What is a great source of pride to me is being part of a coalition Government who are restoring the earnings link. I assure the hon. Gentleman that, although the measure was certainly in the Liberal Democrat manifesto, if the Chancellor of the Exchequer had not been happy with the plan, it would not have happened.
Brandon Lewis (Great Yarmouth) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that one real benefit to pensioners that will result from today’s statement is that it gives them certainty and stability, something that, to their frustration, has been lacking over the past couple of years because of the measly and in some ways insulting changes that were made to their scheme?
Steve Webb
My hon. Friend is right. The nature of the triple guarantee is that, whatever happens to earnings and prices, pensioners will be guaranteed a 2.5% rise. Picking up on one of the points that the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves), made, I should say that the previous Government, in their spending plans, pencilled in a 2.4% rise in 2012. I have no idea what prices or earnings will be next year, but I do know that 2.5% is bigger than 2.4%.