Badenoch says Conservative policy is to keep the pensions triple lock

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said that her party's policy remains to keep the pensions "triple lock" in place, in an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg as the Tories opened their party conference in Birmingham.

The triple lock is the mechanism that increases the UK state pension each year in line with whichever is highest among average earnings growth, inflation, or 2.5%. It has been in place, with some interruptions, since 2011, and has become a significant point of debate in UK fiscal and pensions policy because of its rising cost to the public purse as the population ages.

Policy sits at the heart of conference messaging

Badenoch's comments on the triple lock came as the Conservative Party used its annual conference in Birmingham to set out its policy priorities. Pensions policy has remained a sensitive subject for British political parties, given the size of the pensioner electorate and the fiscal pressures associated with an ageing population.

The interview did not reportedly include further detail from Badenoch on how a future Conservative government would fund the continued triple lock commitment, nor on whether any changes to its structure might be considered.

The BBC interview forms part of broader coverage of the Conservative conference, where party figures are expected to address a range of economic and social policy questions in the coming days.