31-Dec-20 – Want to find out about the dirty side of the UK government – click here for that and the latest news on the UK State Pension. Help us achieve pension parity by donating to the ICBP, British Pensions in Australia, the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners, or the British Caribbean Pensioners Association.
THE INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM OF BRITISH PENSIONERS
“It is cruel and unjust to deny to half a million UK pensioners overseas the full UK state pension that they paid into during their working lives. Canada has offered a potential route to ending this injustice. The UK should welcome this opportunity to right a historic wrong and ensure every pensioner receives the full state pension they are morally entitled to regardless of where they live”
– Sir Roger Gale, Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group for Frozen British Pensions
Retirement should be all about doing the things that make life worthwhile, not walking hand in hand with poverty…..
…and not having to exist on a frozen UK State Pension like these pensioners. Click on any picture to read their stories…..
TRIPLE LOCK INDEXATION SINCE APRIL 2011
ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON FROZEN PENSIONS (APPG)
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Frozen British Pensions is pleased to announce the release of the report from its 2020 Inquiry, revealing the Governments of Canada and Australia are ready and willing to work with the UK to end the ‘frozen’ pension policy, and have been calling on the UK Government to do so for many years.
– APPG 2020 Inquiry
The report also exposes the financial impact of the ‘frozen’ pension policy on UK pensioners overseas, finding that:
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1 in 2 ‘frozen’ pensioners receive a UK state pension of £65 per week or less
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Over half struggle financially because of their frozen pension
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Almost 90% of ‘frozen’ pensioners were not informed that their pension would be frozen before they left the UK
As a result of this inquiry, the APPG recommends that the UK Government end the ‘frozen’ pension policy and seek to provide UK pensioners living in ‘frozen’ countries with their full uprated UK state pension as soon as possible.
Sir Roger Gale, MP
APPG Chair
“There is no requirement upon the Government of the United Kingdom to enter into any “reciprocal agreement” with another country before honouring its obligation to pay the full and uprated State pension to any UK citizen who has paid the requisite National Insurance contributions upon which State pensions are based. As the Chairman of the APPG on Frozen Pensions I regard it as a disgrace and a matter of national shame that the United Kingdom has for so long denied to elderly citizens, very many of whom have proudly served our country in the Armed Forces or the Civil Service, the funds that they need to live on in old age and, sadly, sometimes in ill-health. It is past time for this injustice to be addressed and the wrong of decades righted”.
“I returned to St Lucia to care for my ailing mother after the death [of] my father, when it became clear that she could not care for herself. She too lived and work[ed] in the UK from 1959 to 1990. Her pension was meagre to say the least. I joined my parent in 1964, I had no choice but [to return] to St Lucia in 2008 to care for my mother. With the falling £ rate it became increasingly difficult financially as mother deteriorate[d].”
Chris Stephens (SNP)
Pensions Uprating Order
SNP attempt to change Uprating Order with two amendments that would nullify the UK Government’s frozen pensions policy.
Letters from Winston S Churchill in 1993 denigrating the Government’s position on Frozen Pensions
75th ANNIVERSARY OF VJ DAY
15-Aug-20: The Express – Nursing WW2 Veteran, 99, pens letter to Boris urging him to act over pensions poverty
16-Aug-20: Sunday Express – Save heroes from pension poverty pleads nursing veteran
“In your VE Day remarks, you pledged that all World War Two veterans would be remembered. On behalf of the thousands of military veterans who served our nation during times of need, I urge you to honour that promise and to end the injustice of frozen pensions without delay. Thank you for reading my message. At 99 I can’t believe I’m writing to 10 Downing St, but it’s important”
Click on each meme above to read full text
75th ANNIVERSARY OF VE DAY
“Our expat frozen pensioners fought for you – and now we need you to fight for us”
Churchills
Victory
Speech
Anne Puckridge
BBC Today Program: Interview with Inez Minc (97) and Anne Puckridge (95) ahead of the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Inez Minc
BBC News: VE Day anniversary: Calls to end frozen pensions for WW2 veterans abroad
John Trantom
The Sun News: Campaigners call to end frozen pensions for World War II heroes
Bernard Jackson
Dundee Messenger: VE Day Anniversary: Calls to end frozen pensions for WW2 veterans abroad
Miriam Margoyles
The Express: Fight to end poverty for heroes who retired abroad
Robert Haley
The Mirror: FROZEN OUT – 500,000 cut of from state pension rises
Windrush…and Frozen Pensions
Bell Ribeiro Addy
Brixton Blog: MP urges action on Windrush Generation pensions
Empire Windrush
Brixton Buzz: Cross-party call to reconsider “frozen pensions” policy affecting Windrush retirees
Harold Williams
The Guardian: Frozen Pensions: injustices faced by Windrush Generation in spotlight
“…another stain on our country’s much vaunted sense of fairness and equality”
– Lord Randall, speaking out on Windrush victims having their state pension frozen
CURRENT NEWS
Chris Stephens. MP
1-Oct-20 – They Work For You: Up-rating of State Pension – Social Security Bill
Rt, Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP
1-Oct-20 – Gov.UK – Pension boost protected by new bill
Rt Hon Boris Johnson, MP
26-Sep-20 – The Express – State Pension Changes: Will the Triple Lock System Be Scrapped? PM ‘puts his foot down’
Number of Frozen Pensioners – as at February 2020 (DWP)
VIDEOS
OUR ORGANISATION
John Duffy
International Consortium of British Pensioners – Chair: John Duffy
British Pensions in Australia (BPiA)
Chair: Brian Owles
Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP)
Chair: Ian Andexser
British Caribbean Pensioners Association (BCPA)
Chair: John Duffy
All Party Parliamentary Group on Frozen British Pensions (APPG)
Chair: Sir Roger Gale, MP
Sir Roger Gale, MP
“Bringing together parliamentary supporters of the case to unfreeze British state pensions overseas and to campaign for reform.”
BCPA, BPiA, the CABP, the ICBP and the APPG believe that all UK state pensioners – no matter where they choose to retire overseas – ought to be paid the pension that they have contributed towards and are rightfully entitled to receive. Help us fight this battle as every voice helps!