Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has confirmed that the Conservatives will maintain the state pension triple lock if re-elected.

Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Hunt acknowledged that this is an "expensive commitment", adding that "you can only make that commitment if you’re confident you're going to deliver the economic growth that’s going to pay for it."

"We have a plan for growth, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) say that we will get back to 2 per cent-ish growth over the next two years, and that means we can start to make that very important commitment," he stated.

Hunt also confirmed that this commitment would pertain to the whole duration of the next parliament.

"When we came to office in 2010, pensioners were more likely to be in poverty than other income groups, now because of the triple lock that we introduced they are less likely to be in poverty," he told the BBC.

"I think that is a very important social change because unlike adults of working age, pensioners can't work, they have retired and so we need to respect that."

The government has faced growing pressure over the rising cost of maintaining the state pension triple lock, however, with research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) revealing that the triple lock has already raised state pension spending by around £11bn a year since 2010.

Furthermore, it found that maintaining the triple lock could increase spending by anywhere between a further £5bn and £45bn per year by 2050.

However, recent research showed that those relying on the UK state pension could be at risk of being “left behind” in the cost-of-living crisis, after revealing that, despite recent increases under the triple lock, many pensioners are “barely breaking even”.

Indeed, recent research showed that pensioner poverty rates have "almost completely reversed" in recent years, with around 2.1 million pensioners in poverty.

And a lack of certainty on the state pension has been hitting Brits' retirement confidence, as research from PensionBee found that distrust in the government was one of the top three reasons for negative pension sentiment among over 55s.

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