Rishi Sunak today repeatedly refused to rule out tax rises after he warned "hard choices" lie ahead.
The Chancellor hinted he could tear up the Tories' manifesto pledge to freeze Income Tax, National Insurance and VAT to pay for coronavirus.
Mr Sunak also refused to rule out raising fuel duty after drivers enjoyed a decade-long freeze in the tax.
Yet he suggested the 'triple lock' that guarantees bumper annual rises to pensions will be safe - despite the UK national debt soaring to almost 102% of GDP.
The 'lock' is a key Tory manifesto pledge which raises pensions by inflation, 2.5% or average earnings - whichever is highest.
Ministers have suggested the lock needs to be "rectified" to stop it artificially rising if wages fall this year, then bounce back next year.
That has led to rumours the triple lock could be suspended to help pay for the pandemic.
But ministers brought forward a little-noticed law last week allowing them to maintain the triple lock - if they choose to.
And asked by LBC radio if the triple lock was safe, Mr Sunak said: "Yes, our manifesto commitments are there and that is very much the legislative position.
"We care very much about pensioners and making sure they have security and that's indeed our policy."
The Chancellor signalled rises were inevitable yesterday as the Treasury battles to fill gaping holes in the public finances created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The national debt has topped £2trillion for the first time and a Whitehall spending watchdog last month said the Government response to the pandemic was on track to cost the public purse £210billion for the first six months of the crisis.
Mr Sunak admitted ministers faced “hard choices” but suggested public spending would not be slashed – snubbing a second wave of austerity similar to that ordered by David Cameron a decade ago.
That leaves tax rises to plug the gap.
The Chancellor was repeatedly asked if he could rule out tax rises in a range of broadcast interviews today.
Despite the manifesto pledge he refused to rule out any tax rises, saying repeatedly: "I can’t talk about tax policy outside a fiscal event."
Speaking on BBC Breakfast he added: "This year we're obviously having to borrow an enormous amount of money to provide support to the economy at a time of crisis, that's the right thing to do.
"In terms of the medium term... obviously this can't carry on forever.
"This level of borrowing, which will be record levels pretty much this year, is not sustainable in the long run."
Mr Sunak also said the economy will "change" and "it is right for that to happen", adding: "It is wrong to pretend to people they can always in every circumstance go back to the job they had before this started."
But asked again directly if he would break the manifesto pledges, he replied: "I wouldn’t read that into it. Those promises are very important to us and we filly intend to deliver on commitments."
He added: “I get asked about tax all the time and I give exactly the same answer every time I’m asked about tax.”
