Andy Burnham 'repeating the mistakes of Keir Starmer' with triple lock, says John Swinney

It comes after the PM said he is “determined to prove John Swinney wrong” in a blistering defence of the union in his Labour conference speech.

Speaking to journalists in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Swinney said he thought Mr Burnham was “getting off on the wrong footing” by removing the pensions triple lock.

In his first Labour party conference speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham confirmed he wants to end the pensions triple lock, which guarantees increases in line with the highest of inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent, in order to free up cash to fund his long-held ambition of creating a NHS-style care service in England.

Mr Swinney said: “We have provided free personal care for the elderly here in Scotland without punishing pensioners and what the Prime Minister was doing was repeating the mistakes of Keir Starmer.

“The first act of Keir Starmer was to take away winter fuel payments from pensioners, and now the first act of Andy Burnham was to take away the triple lock from pensioners.

“It’s a strange way to go about trying to build support for significant reforms and I think on the basis of the mistakes made by Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham is going the same way.”

Setting out his plans for a new national care service, Mr Burnham said he wanted to build a “national consensus” around plans being drawn up following a consultation by Baroness Louise Casey.

“I accept I may pay a political price,” he said.

“But someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off.”

Under the plan, the state pension would rise in line with inflation or 2.5 per cent from 2030, breaking the triple lock’s automatic link with increases in average earnings.

But officials insisted it will also rise by more than this if needed in some years, to ensure it holds its value relative to earnings.

Mr Burnham said: “This change will generate significant savings which we will use to build up our national care service.”

The Labour leader took a swipe at the First Minister during his speech after Mr Swinney claimed he would be the last Prime Minister of the UK.

Shortly before addressing what the FM had said, a visibly emotional Mr Burnham had to pause for a moment.

He said: “On the day my dad died, the Scottish First Minister said I would be the last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

“I quote that not to seek sympathy, nor to criticise John Swinney. I don't think he knew the news at the time.

“And anyway, my dad Roy would have been the first to defend his right to say it.

“I relay it because I want you to know how it made me feel. Utterly determined to prove him wrong.”

He then gave a strong defence of the union, saying what the UK had done for his dad.

Mr Burnham said: “Whatever its flaws, this country gave my dad a good life, and it has given his sons opportunities he didn't get for himself.

“He recognised that and was grateful for it, and so proud of what Nick, John, and I did with them.

“If only, if only he had been able to appreciate that moment of the family in Downing Street, the son of a man who failed his 11+ becoming prime minister.

“The fact it could even happen in this country would not have been lost on him.

“He could have gone to university himself, but times were different then, so it wasn't an option.

“But he voted every time religiously for the Labour governments, which changed education, so his sons could do that.

“ The United Kingdom, my dad represented, is the one I believe in. A union of nations that gave trade unions and the cooperative movement to the world, the National Health Service.

“A country that stood up to fascism a country of solidarity, not separation. That's the Britain that my dad represented.

“Britain is not perfect. It can be better, and we will make it so. But it still stands for something worth saving, worth fighting for.

“And we will always be stronger facing a changing world together, rather than separating.

“So I am going to use this job to build the kind of Britain my dad wanted to see, and fight with everything I've got to keep it together.

“Not the last prime minister of the United Kingdom, rather the first to rewire it to make it work for all people and places.

“Driving power out of Whitehall and into every postcode of Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England, and closing divides between people and places.

“The first Prime Minister to make a break with politics as usual.”

It came as he set out a radical plan to transform the country in his conference speech.

He vowed to change the UK’s electoral system and reform the UK’s relationship with the European Union.

He said: “This country isn’t where any of us would want it to be.”

Mr Burnham, who replaced Sir Keir Starmer in No 10 in July, claimed there was a “sense of the powers-that-be pulling against the people, not with them”.

“If there’s one thing I want to put right, it’s that,” he said.

Taking aim at the changes introduced since the Thatcher administration in the 1980s, Mr Burnham said: “Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time.

“Deindustrialisation. Deregulation. Privatisation. Austerity. Brexit.

“And what has it given us? A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest.”

Reacting to the news that the pensions triple lock is to be reformed, Adam Stachura, Age Scotland’s policy director said: “Reform of social care and improving the outcomes for people should be a priority of governments across the UK.

“However, the situation is different in Scotland as its funding and delivery is devolved. So, the Prime Minister’s proposed trade-off between the future value of the State Pension, by removing the Triple Lock, for increased spending on social care in England only impacts people here if the Scottish Government of the day decide to spend every pound of that associated money in this way. That isn’t a given, and even then it’s tricky.

“The Triple Lock has been important. It has helped lift the standard of living of most pensioners to something more decent and given confidence to many on low incomes that it won’t be eroded in the face of a volatile economy.

“But pensioner poverty in Scotland is too high and isn’t going to fall unless governments support people with sufficient income in later life and ensure they are receiving everything they are entitled to. We still have a long way to go on this.

“Hundreds of thousands of older people in Scotland live on low and very modest incomes without financial security.

“Ultimately, the State Pension has to keep up with the cost of living and protecting these low-income pensioners, and those like them in the future, will be the ultimate test of the UK Government.”