[BITList] Express article and comment

[John Feltham]

BAPA

An article in the Express starts with a bang. (Something desperately needed in press articles). 

However there are inaccuracies that needed clarification. My comment had to be split into 5 parts because of the limitation on the number of words permitted and that itself was a problem! Also the Express prints the newest last so you need to scroll along way down the comments to find it. 

Read the article and then read my comments set out below.
 
Clive(Indonesia)
 
https://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/886388/ex-pat-pension-commonwealth <https://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/886388/ex-pat-pension-commonwealth>
 
my comments.
1) correction to headline please.

There are 1.2 million expat pensioners living outside of Europe or the UK.  640,000 of them receive the full current UK pension and the annual indexed increases.

540,000, (the frozen ones), have never received an additional penny since moving to a “frozen pension” country. Yes, they are still on the pension they  received, in some cases, 30 years ago! [For government officials please note that comes within the meaning of discrimination].

It is not a “pot” it is a fund all workers are required to pay into to insure for an income on retirement.  

Private pensions, such as occupational pensions, are not frozen and would be acting illegally if they tried to freeze them.

All pensioners paid the same mandatory NIS contribution they are required to do during their working life. The contributions to be made to the secured NIS Fund.  They are all entitled to the full state pension only depending on their contributory years. (see Pension Act 2014 part 1section 2). That same Act does NOT state that overseas pensioners must have the annual uprating withheld. The Act does say a regulation,(SI) to withhold uprating MAY be made to do so.(section 20 of the Act). The Pension Act is domestic legislation and there is no requirement for other countries to be involved.
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It is a political whim, (70years outdated), to withhold uprating to some pensioners. The Government continue to repeat parrot fashion the 70 year old “we cant afford it”, “there is no reciprocal agreement”, and “we only uprate where we are legally required to” lame excuses.

So why has the government used your pension fund to build houses and used on other unrelated issues? The fund has a balance of over £20 billion. The cost to pay all frozen pensions to the current rate is £590 million. (a drop in the ocean).

So all you workers who think you are paying into a secured fund for your future pension think again! Get your unions to actively join the campaign not just give lip service.

The government also says “we don’t think it’s right “tax payers” should foot that bill”. What the **have pensioners been paying for? What are workers now paying for? By what authority has the government stolen your fund?
xxxxxxxxxx

Reciprocal agreements are not necessary to uprate pensions overseas. Both Canada and New Zealand have agreement but both are frozen! Even the government now, very belatedly, admits to that.

Why did the Prime Minister make an agreement to ensure UK pensioners in Europe retained the full uprated pension in the future? Was it because it was the tight thing to do? No! it was because she knew that with the EU pensioners sitting on her doorstep, if she had said no to that there would have been an armada making the short trip across the channel demonstrating loudly on her door step. The resulting publicity would have most likely seen her having to pack her bags and possibly have her party removed from power.

Of course it was the right thing to do, the same right thing to do would have been to uprate frozen pensioners worldwide to the current level (i.e. government manifesto of equality, fairness and justice). 

But of course they, the frozen ones, are spread world-wide and could not afford the cost, or have the ability to, demonstrate on her door step. So as usual they are ignored, they have to endure the discrimination that leave many struggling finically.

The UK is the only EU country in the EU that does not pay the full pension to their expats. [Also incidentally the only commonwealth country that defies the Commonwealth Charters main statement against discrimination in any form].

Her agreement in realty means nothing. The regulation, a domestic legislation, not the Pension Act, controls the withholding of the annual increase payment of pensions. Do away with the regulation, pay all pensioners the current rate as from now is all that is needed. Any agreement is superficial and in reality is just a face saving exercise.

xxxxxxxxxxxx
Another correction please.

The International Consortium of British Pensioners, (ICBP), is primarily made up from a Canadian lobby group, the CABP and one of the lobby groups in Australia the BPiA. 

However there are other lobby groups in South Africa, Thailand,  Indonesia  and another group in Australia that also have been campaigning as does the ICBP. (for pension parity world-wide). They are rarely mentioned in press reports. 

The ICBP duo have the largest numbers of frozen pensioners group wise. They have achieved much in their years but the smaller groups have also worked for parity but generally ignored by the ICBP because they are not members of the ICBP. (too few members and don’t pay fees). One could say that is also discrimination!

International should mean that. All groups, (country’s)  working as one. The ICBP board are the workers, the ordinary members, who pay their fees, are the means of the board achieving what they, the workers, demand from the government. Listen to the workers and take head.

xxxxxxxxxx
Exchange  rates have nothing to with the frozen pension policy and should not be part of the campaign for pension parity. Exchange rates affect everyone dealing with international money movements. Of course it affects the frozen pensions more than others but it must not be used as part of the campaign.

We fought against dictatorship from 1939 to 1945 and we won the tight to be free of that dictatorship. Now we are fighting dictatorship from our own government. The government dictate where we should live if we are to receive the entitled pension we have all paid for. 

Some say why should we get the annual index linked increases as we don’t live in the UK? What Act of parliament dictates where anyone spends their hard earned income? Many expats still spend in the UK. There are specialised companies filling orders for food and other requirements from expats. International buying through the internet is almost like popping down the supermarket these days.

Also  many expats still pay UK income tax on their pensions. A pensioner on less than  £20,00 p/a for example pays about 14% of that income in UK tax. 

Much can be added about frozen pensioners costing about half the cost of a UK pensioner. More about the movement of migrant workers that pay NIS contributions. 

Some wont return to their country of birth because of the frozen pension policy.  Some will legally bring their families to the UK further adding to the UKs expenditure on such as the NHS etc.





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