'Scrap triple lock to fund social care' - NHS boss

Tony Mulhearn, Merseyside ARMS committee member, proposed this motion to the Merseyside Pensioners Association (MPA), who passed it.

This MPA expresses grave concern at the proposal by Simon Stevens NHS chief executive that David Cameron's administration should look at all the options for finding the billions of pounds needed to fund social care, including revisiting the triple lock, which guarantees Britain’s pensioners so-called 'generous' annual increases in their state pension until 2020.

He argues that one of the main questions in tackling the challenge of how to pay for and look after an ageing population was whether some of the money spent on increasing state pensions should instead be allocated for social care and also the government should be prepared to risk upsetting Britain's growing army of senior citizens by looking at whether the benefits they receive are fair to working-age and younger people.

Recognising that UK pensioners are paid the lowest in the European Union and the current crisis was caused by the bankers and financiers we condemn this proposal, and believe pensions should be increased and not attacked, and we deplore yet another attempt to drive a wedge between the young and the pensioners.

We call on the NPC to declare its strong opposition to this suggestion and resolve to contact our MPs and to register our opposition.