The OECD has urged Labour to abandon the state pension triple lock, arguing that the policy is putting growing strain on the UK’s public finances and creating long-term fiscal risks. The intervention matters because it adds international weight to domestic calls for reform at a time when the government is trying to balance weak growth, high debt and rising spending pressures. While broadly supportive of Rachel Reeves’s economic record and Labour’s pro-growth agenda, the OECD said the UK has very limited room to absorb extra costs.

In its latest 140-page survey of the UK economy, the OECD said the triple lock, introduced in 2010, pushes up spending by guaranteeing annual pension rises in line with whichever is highest of wages, inflation or 2.5%. It proposed replacing this with a link to average earnings and inflation, estimating that this could save the equivalent of 2% of GDP over the long term. The report also highlighted other pressures on the public finances, including ageing, climate and defence spending, and suggested improving hospital productivity rather than raising headline tax rates, which it said are already high.