OPINION

       Pensions minister Torsten Bell is the Labour MP for Swansea West (Image: Labour Party)

       Rescuing the NHS and raising the State Pension – these are this Government’s priorities to give all pensioners the dignity they deserve in their retirement. Those who have worked hard throughout their lives, paying into the system, are owed nothing less.

       That’s why our number one mission is to kickstart economic growth – enabling us to continue the Triple Lock - where the State Pension goes up in line with earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is highest - throughout this parliament. That means that the State Pension rises over time, faster than the cost of living, ensuring it remains the foundation of income in retirement.

       This Labour commitment means we are set to increase spending on the State Pension by around ￡31 billion a year by the end of this Parliament. And in the here and now it means pounds in pensioners’ pockets: from Monday the State Pension will increase by 4.1% or up to ￡470 a year for the new State Pension.

       Pensioner poverty fell dramatically under the last Labour government, so that for the first time ever it was lower than for the rest of the population. In fact it halved between 1997 and 2010, before rising by several hundred thousand under the Tories.

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       There is always more to do to support those in greatest need, so Pension Credit, which supports the poorest pensions, will also rise by 4.1% this week – guaranteeing a minimum income of ￡227.10 a week. And the biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign, that we have run since the Summer, has seen an extra 50,000 households awarded the benefit compared to the same period last year.

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       This is about ensuring security for older people who have given so much to our country. It’s why we’re not only investing an extra ￡7.84billion in the State Pension in the year ahead, but injecting ￡26billion into our NHS. There is a reason waiting lists in England have now fallen for five months in a row and there is ￡600million extra going into the Welsh NHS. This is how Labour is turning our whole-hearted support for pensioners into reality.