Is The State Pension Unaffordable?

Today, new figures suggest the state pension will rise by 3.9% to up to £13,000 a year. The increase is based on earning figures as dictated by the triple lock, the policy the government uses to guarantee pension growth. The rise has reignited debates about the long-term affordability and generational fairness of state pensions which have seen costs balloon in recent years. Alex and James are joined by economics editor Faisal Islam who’s also been speaking to Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark about calls for greater AI safeguarding. Plus, the Thirlwall inquiry into how Lucy Letby was able to murder babies at the Countess of Chester hospital has delivered its findings, describing a "complete failure" to protect infants from harm. Michael Buchanan, social affairs correspondent, was at the inquiry and has been following the crisis in UK maternity care. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord Get in touch with Newscast by emailing [newscast@bbc.co.uk](mailto:newscast@bbc.co.uk) or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480. New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Alex Forsyth and James Cook. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Cordelia Hemming and Anna Harris. The social producers were Jem Westgate and Gabriel Purcell-Davis. The technical producer was Phil Bull. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.