190,000 AND COUNTING...HANDS OFF TRIPLE LOCK!

BRITAIN'S pensioners delivered a loud and clear message to the nation's politicians as our campaign gathers momentum: "Don't unpick the triple lock."

- Sam Lister

The Express petition surged past 190,000 signatures, while polling showed more than half of the population support the vital measure.

It comes as pensions minister Laura Trott yesterday refused to guarantee that next year's rise will be honoured in full.

Silver Voices' Dennis Reed, who set up the petition, said: "The great British public has spoken, with an overwhelming response to the joint Express/ Silver Voices petition. Politicians of all parties have been given a clear message, 'hands off the triple lock', or you will lose our votes.

"Because so much bad faith is being created by the reluctance of the Government to confirm that the triple lock increase will be applied in full, it would be in the interests of the Tories to change tack now before a stream of lost votes becomes a torrent.

"Laura Trott was given a torrid time [on television yesterday] as she tried to justify the possibility of a lower rise than the triple lock should provide, by fiddling with the average earnings figures."

The triple lock commits the Government to increasing the basic state pension by annual inflation, earnings growth or 2.5% - whichever is the highest.

Ministers are now considering changing the formula to calculate April's increase to reduce it from 8.5% to 7.8%.