Ed Balls is facing claims that he would cut the state pension after suggesting the costs should be included in a cap on welfare spending.
The shadow chancellor has triggered a backlash by highlighting that the “large bulk” of the £200 billion spent on social security went to those aged over 60. That meant any effective cap needed to cover spending on pensions, he argued.
The Tories immediately seized on the comments, with Treasury minister Sajid Javid saying: “Now we know when Labour say they want to cut welfare, what they actually mean is cut the basic state pension.”
Basic pension spending will be excluded from the coalition’s own welfare cap, which is due to be unveiled this month.
Mr Balls sought to clarify the situation later by stressing that Labour still supported the “triple-lock” mechanism, which sees the state pension rise by whichever is highest out of inflation, average earnings, or 2.5%.
“We committed to triple-lock on state pension got to monitor long-term pension spend Tory reaction very rattled,” he posted on Twitter.
But an aide added: “It would be perverse to exclude overall spending on pensioners and the impact of an ageing society from any sensible and long-term fiscal plan to monitor and control structural social security spending.
“That’s why we have supported increases in the retirement age as people live longer and why we have also said we would not pay the winter allowance to the richest 5% of pensioners.”
The row could mark a dramatic broadening of the battle between Labour and the Tories over welfare, as the Opposition bids to show it will take tough action to stop abuses and rein in budgets.
Pensioners’ benefits are highly sensitive politically because older people are more likely to vote.
During an interview on the BBC’s Sunday Politics, Mr Balls was pressed on his proposals for a three-year cap on welfare spending.
He insisted it was “important that you are looking across all welfare spending”, adding, “We should look across the piece.”