Rishi Sunak last night threatened to snatch hundreds of pounds from people’s pockets with a raid on pensions.
The new PM admitted he is thinking about ditching a promise to increase the state pension in line with rising prices next year.
Around 12.5million people who receive the payment will be up to £472 a year worse off under the plan.
It comes just a week after Liz Truss reassured pensioners she would stick to the Tory manifesto pledge on raising pensions.
More than 5.7million on Universal Credit also face a wait to find out if their benefits will rise with inflation.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had been due to set out the government’s tax and spending plans in a Halloween Budget on Monday.
But yesterday he announced there will be an Autumn Statement on November 17 instead.
Under the triple lock, promised in the Tory manifesto, the state pension rises each year in line with the highest out of 2.5 per cent, wage rises or inflation.
If the pledge remains in place then payments will go up by 10.1%, the September figure for inflation.
The full new state pension will increase from £185 a week to £204 from next April, while the basic state pension for those who reached retirement age before April 2016 will rise from £142 per week to £156.
Instead, ministers are considering raising pensions in line with the 5.2% hike in average earnings. Those on the full new state pension would get £195 a week, making them £472 worse off across the year. Recipients of the basic state pension would get £149 per week, a £340 reduction in the annual income.
Downing Street last night confirmed Mr Sunak was considering scrapping the pensions triple lock.
The government has repeatedly changed its position in recent weeks, creating uncertainty for pensioners.
At the start of this month Ms Truss said she was committed to the pensions promise, before she said it was up for review last Tuesday. The next day she announced she was sticking to it after all.
Labour ’s Jonathan Ashworth last night said: “Older people are paying the price for the Conservatives’ economic mess.
“ Rishi Sunak stood on a manifesto in 2019 on a pledge to keep the triple lock. Now he’s threatening that promise to Britain’s retirees.”
The Liberal Democrats accused the Tories of an "endless hokey cokey" over pensions and the triple lock.
Dennis Reed of Silver Voices said: “Breaking this key promise from the 2019 manifesto would blow up Rishi Sunak’s argument against the need for an early general election.
“This in-out-shake-it-all-about approach to the triple lock is playing with the fragile emotions of millions of pensioners at a time of great hardship. It is immensely disrespectful to the older generations.”
At his first Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Sunak pledged to rebuild the public finances in a way that is "fair and compassionate".
Despite his wobble over pensions and benefits, he insisted he “will always protect the most vulnerable”.
Keir Starmer taunted the PM over his defeat by Ms Truss in the last leadership contest over the summer.
"The only time he ran in a competitive election he got trounced by the former prime minister who herself got beaten by a lettuce," the Labour leader said.
"So why doesn't he put it to the test, let working people have their say and call a general election?"
The Mirror's petition on the 38 Degrees campaign website calling for a ballot has more than 141,000 signatures.
