Mr Sunak defended the return of the triple lock policy when it was announced after criticism arose as it was being reintroduced whilst millions of public sector workers were being forced to accept real-term pay cuts due to inflation.

Speaking to reporters in central London, Mr Sunak said: “The slight difference with pensions is pensions are not an input cost into the cost of producing goods and services we all consume so they don’t add to inflation in the same way.”

At the time of the announcement, RMT Unions rail workers were holding a series of strikes over pay, redundancies and conditions.

Rail bosses offered pay increases of three percent, however, the RMT called for an increase of seven percent.

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