Sunak ducks pledge to raise pensions in line with wages

Mr Sunak faces a difficult choice over whether to apply the triple lock rigidly.

Tory MPs have called on him to step in to shrink what they have deemed an “artificial” spike in average earnings, after wages were depressed during lockdown before jumping again when millions returned to work. 

They are concerned about a backlash from the public if the Treasury signs off a significant bump to pensioners, amid demands for higher spending on education and healthcare.

Mr Sunak also acknowledged that tackling climate change would be expensive, saying there would be “costly transitions” but that the green economy will also present “opportunities”.

He insisted that government actions on the environment would not fall on “just one side of the ledger”.

The Chancellor said that the state “is investing, we are making sure that we can help people with that transition, and we want to make sure that that transition works for people”.

Asked who would pay the estimated £250bn cost of replacing gas boilers with greener alternatives like hydrogen, which works out at about £10,000 per household, Mr Sunak avoided answering.

Quizzed on what kind of Conservative he was, he replied: “A fiscal Conservative, because it’s not my money – it’s other people’s money and I take my responsibility for that very seriously.”

However, highlighting the “very healthy growth in public spending”, Mr Sunak vowed: “There’s no return to austerity.”

His remarks came after it emerged that commercial landlords will be banned from evicting tenants until next March. The Government confirmed the extension on Wednesday, confirming a report in The Telegraph.

The move extends the moratorium for a further nine months beyond its planned end date of 30 June.

Businesses with rents in arrears are normally at risk of being taken to court by landlords, but the system was suspended when the pandemic struck with the measures being extended as Covid and associated restrictions continue to ravage some parts of the economy.