Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, refused to say whether Andy Burnham or Chancellor John Healey might scrap the state pension triple lock, despite saying Labour remains committed to it under its 2024 manifesto. The question has become prominent as Burnham prepares to speak at the party conference in Liverpool, where the Prime Minister is expected to outline plans for a national care service and lower energy bills.

Powell said social care proposals would follow Baroness Louise Casey’s review, due next summer, and a national conversation intended to build cross-party agreement before Labour’s next manifesto. Unite leader Sharon Graham argued that using pensioners’ incomes to fund care would be morally wrong, saying alternatives such as wealth taxes should be considered; she added that Burnham had not raised the triple lock in a recent meeting. The lock determines annual state pension rises, and its possible reform has become contentious after the Prime Minister said no options were off the table for funding social care.