RISHI SUNAK struggled to allay fears for the future of the state pension today under pressure from Labour at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Pressed by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over funding his plan to abolish National Insurance, Mr Sunak failed to rule out a major rise in the pension age.

Scrapping National Insurance would cost £46 billion a year, Sir Keir reminded the Prime Minister, and he had not explained how this cost would be covered.

When challenged, Mr Sunak ruled out cuts in the state pension and recommitted to the famous “triple lock” which keeps the value of the pension rising in line with earnings or inflation.

But when the Labour leader quoted controversial Tory peer Lord Frost as urging raising the retirement age to 75, Mr Sunak floundered.

“Will the Prime Minister rule out forcing people to delay their retirement by years and years in order to fulfil his £46bn black hole?” Sir Keir asked.

The Premier claimed that he had previously answered the question when in fact he had not, leading to fears that a radical increase in the age at which a state pension can be drawn is on the Tory cards.

In fact, it is not clear what Labour would do about the state pension age either. 

But Mr Sunak has blundered into this argument by floating the idea of scrapping National Insurance in the not-too-distant future in order to burnish his tax-cutting credentials with the Tory right.