Asked about the Autumn Statement and whether vulnerable people will be at the forefront of ministers’ minds during the Autumn Statement process, Mr Stride told Times Radio: “Well the Prime Minister has made that extremely clear and that is absolutely so. the Conservatives in government have always seen pensioners as a particularly vulnerable group. They find it difficult to change their financial circumstances, certainly in the short term, for example going back to work and things like that, and so we’ve introduced things like the triple lock and support pensions and they’ve increased the value of the state pension quite a bit since we’ve been in power. “The other thing I would say is that if you look at the interventions we’ve made in terms of supporting the most vulnerable in a very difficult winter with high energy prices, a lot of that has gone to pensioners. . “So if you are in pension credit you are eligible for the payment of £650, half of which, the second half, will be paid between now and the end of this month, as well as a lump sum payment of £300 in pensioners and this is on top of a number of other measures we are taking. “So yes, pensioners are absolutely at the forefront of the group that we really want to protect as much as we can in these difficult times.”
