The full UK State Pension is now worth around £12,548 a year. That's less than half the earnings of someone working full-time on the National Minimum Wage, despite many pensioners paying taxes and National Insurance for 40, 50 or even 60 years. Yet every time the Treasury needs money, the same voices appear demanding the Triple Lock be scrapped. Why? State pension spending is forecast at around £154 billion this year, but that supports over 13 million pensioners, many of whom rely on it as their primary income. Meanwhile, billions continue to disappear into failed projects, government waste, bureaucracy, consultants, quangos and policies that deliver little value to ordinary taxpayers. The Triple Lock isn't some gold-plated luxury. It exists because politicians allowed the State Pension to fall behind for decades. Even today, a full State Pension is barely above the poverty line and is nowhere near a typical working wage. If politicians want to save money, start with waste, inefficiency and failed spending programmes. Leave pensioners alone. They worked, they paid in, they built this country and they deserve dignity in retirement, not another raid on their income.

I read on here about Makerfield election and Andy Burnham leading in the polls and think, who on earth are these voters who look at the way this country is run and think, “yeah, the Labour Party, that’s the answer. That’s the way forward”. They not only live in a different area to me, but on another planet.

🚨This is actually brilliant - even though I’m not a fan of Reform. Reform just announced: place new migrant detention centres in areas that voted Green or for open borders. If you cheer “refugees welcome” and mass immigration…here’s your welcome package, right on your doorstep. You vote for it, you house it.👏🏼