Archive – 2021


11-Dec-21 – The National: Tory DWP minister’s staff ‘drank into the night’ amid Covid-19 lockdown

8-Dev-21 – The Express: Veteran expat and wife face £240 pension shortfall every MONTH

30-Nov-21 – The Express: State pension fury as Johnson ‘callously pushing hundreds of thousands into poverty’

23-Nov-21 – The Express: Four pension changes in 2022 that could see retirees getting hundreds more

23-Nov-21 – The Express: ‘Not possible to live!’ Campaigners call on Tories to reinstate state pension triple lock

22-Nov-21 – The Express: State pension triple lock could be scrapped for good – ‘This is worrying’

20-Nov-21 – New Nations USA: ‘Historic injustice’ – British pensioners with frozen pensions living on just £22 per week

20-Nov-21 – The Express: State pension payments to rise next year but 500,000 people will miss out

16-Nov-21 – The Express: Pension fury as MPs vote again to axe the triple lock next year

15-Nov-21 – Daily Mail: Pensions blow as MPs kill off triple lock meaning elderly will only see small rise next year

15-Nov-21 – iNews: State pension: MPs condemned for voting to scrap triple lock as pensioners threaten to vote against Government

15-Nov-21 – iNews: State pension: MPs making thousands from second jobs are blocking triple lock, says Labour peer

14-Nov-21 – Brinkwire: ‘Frightening!’ says a 78-year-old woman who lives on a state pension of £43 per week.

14-Nov-21 – Today UK News: BARONESS ALTMANN: Cutting state pensions is a betrayal

13-Nov-21 – The Express: ‘Message IS getting through’ Hope for pensioners amid state pension triple lock suspension

12-Nov-21 – The Express: Pensioners may be able to get state pension ‘top-up’ after certain age – how to claim

11-Nov-21 – The Express: State pension recipients to get a bonus next month – how much will you get?

11-Nov-21 – Mississauga News: The indefatigable veteran who epitomized Remembrance Day

8-Nov-21 – The Express: State pension fury: Triple lock ‘rights a longstanding wrong’ before suspension

8-Nov-21 – The Express: State pension frustration as woman, 78, lives on sum of £43 per week – ‘frightening!’

2-Nov-21 – The Express: ‘Historic injustice’ – British pensioners with frozen pensions living on just £22 per week

2-Nov-21 – The Telegraph: ‘My state pension is only £22 a week because of this flaw in Government rules’

1-Nov-21 – Silver Voices: BATTLE TO SAVE THE TRIPLE LOCK HOTS UP IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS

1-Nov-21 – The Express: Last chance to save Triple Lock! Baroness in plot to stop Rishi’s State Pension suspension

31-Oct-21 – News Nation USA: ‘Historic injustice’ – British pensioners with frozen pensions living on just £22 per week

30-Oct-21 – Left Foot Forward: Prof Prem Sikka: The government’s claims of not being able to lift retirees out of poverty are not credible including the following links:

The Scale of Economic Inequality in the UK

Average credit card debt per household

Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS): How high are our taxes, and where does the money come from?

Introduction to Malnutrition: What is the size of the problem in the UK?

An exchange between Lord Sikka and Baroness Stedman-Scott (House of Lords Pensions Minister):

The Downing Street state pension robbery

23-Oct-21 – The Express: State pension to increase by £289 but half a million to miss out

20-Oct-21 – Which? – State pension to increase by up to £289 in 2022

20-Oct-21 – Money Marketing: UK state pension to rise by 3.1% in 2022

20-Oct-21 – International Adviser: UK retirees to get ‘third-biggest increase’ in state pension

19-Oct-21 – The Telegraph: Rishi Sunak’s Budget must fix these seven tax injustices

13-Oct-21 – House of Lords: Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill – Second Reading

7-Oct-21 – Yorkshire Live: DWP announces big changes to state pensions that will affect millions of elderly Brits

7-Oct-21 – Daily Record: DWP encourages one million older people to check if they qualify for £3,000 annual

17-Sep-21 – The Express: State pension looks set to rise but 500,000 will miss out

16-Sep-21 – The Express: ‘This is just the start…’ Rishi Sunak may hit retirees further in next Budget

7-Sep-21 – Sky News: Triple lock on pensions will be temporarily scrapped for a year from April, government announces

1-Sep-21 – Manchester Evening News: State pension runs out for millions of Brits today – leaving OAPs without money

1-Sep-21 – Today UK News: Warning over State Pension rule that’s frozen 520,000 payments

1-Sep-21 – The Telegraph: James Tilley, naval officer turned accountant and doughty campaigner for fair pensions for Commonwealth ex-pats – obituary

18-Sep-21 – The Senior (Australia): Biggest age pension rise in seven years

5-Jul-21 – Pattaya Mail (Thailand): British expats in Thailand warm to the idea of unfreezing their old age pensions

2-Jul-21 – The Express: Expats furious at pension freeze: Give us more or we’ll make you pay! Warning issued to PM

1-Jul-21 – Parliament TV: Windrush Day: Margaret Ferrier, MP, Speaks out in support of Windrush frozen pensioners. Full text here.

30-Jun-21 – The Telegraph: How some retirees tripled their state pension to £29,000 a year

27-Jun-21 – The Express: ‘Completely two-faced’ – Outrage as British pensioners miss out on state pension boost

23-Jun-21 – The Express: State pension: Britons demand Rishi Sunak keeps Triple Lock – ‘8% is a drop in the ocean!’

23-Jun-21 – New Statesman: A windfall for the old: The injustice of triple lock pensions

19-Jun-21 – Sunday Times/Reuters: UK’s Sunak considers cap to annual pension rise – Sunday Times

2-Jun-21 – Financial Times: UK state pension underpayment scandal wider than feared, experts say

2-Jun-21 – BBC News: Pension scandal: ‘I’ve lost 14 years of payments’

31-May-21 – The Express: State Pension: Britons demand increase to £400 per week for all – ‘the state should pay!’

21-May-21 – The Express: State pension: Boris Johnson urged to take action to end ‘frozen pensions’ for expats

20-May-21 – Daily Mail: Britain ‘will offer Australia trade deal after 15-year transition period’

18-May-21 – This is Money: Women underpaid state pension snubbed by Parliamentary Ombudsman

19-May-21 – iPolitics: U.K. pension policy in Canada amounts to ‘elder abuse,’ says MP

16-May-21 – The Telegraph: Why the expat retirement dream could be gone forever

12-May-21 – Money Marketing: Thousands of over 80s missing out on state pension

12-May-21 – FT Adviser: Thousands of pensioners missing out on state pension

12-May-21 – Professional Adviser: ‘Shocking’ figures show quarter of a million get no state pension

11-May-21 – Liverpool Echo: Big state pension changes set to come in from 2022

11-May-21 – BBC: ‘I was due an £82-a-week state pension but got nothing’

12-Apr-21 – CBC News/CHEK News: British pensioners are not getting their fair pension

12-Apr-21 – CBC Winnipeg: Canadians topping up expat pensions

11-Apr-21 – The Express: UK expats: Canada worried at UK’s refusal to pay pension increases to expats

10-Apr-21 – Thai Visa: Frozen British Pensioners

8-Apr-21 – CBC News: The U.K.’s policy on overseas pensions is costing Canadian taxpayers

7-Apr-21 – iNews: State pension: Thousands of married women on £1-a-week pension could be owed millions, says former minister

7-Apr-21 – BBC News: Women could be owed ‘lottery-winning’ pension sums

7-Apr-21 – International Adviser: UK refuses to uprate expat pensions in Canada

4-Apr-21 – News Chant: Fury at ‘staggering betrayal’ of British ex-pats denied UK state pension right

4-Apr-21 – The Express: Fury at ‘staggering betrayal’ of British ex-pats denied UK state pension right

14-Mar-21 – The Express: Canada shames UK for pensions ‘injustice’ of 136,000 expats on less than £60 a week

11-Mar-21 – CBC (Canada): Why 144,000 U.K. pensioners in Canada don’t get more money

10-Mar-21 – Birmingham Live: 200,000 women in the UK are owed payments of up to £13,500

10-Mar-21 – The National: The UK pays the worst state pension in the developed world

…which is the worst in the developed world in terms of its value verses average wages. It ranks bottom in a list of countries compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), paying out just 29% of the average wage

9-Mar-21 – The Independant: The gender pay gap is bad but the gender pensions gap is far worse

9-Mar-21 – Canadian House of Commons: Gord Johns (Con) and John Mackay (Lib) support Motion by Paul Manly

9-Mar-21 – Canadian House of Commons: Paul Manly, MP, Motion on Frozen UK Pensions carried in the House of Commons

9-Mar-21 – The Express: State Pension forecast: How much State Pension will I get? How to find out

9-Mar-21 – Glamour Money Matters: Millennial women could face ‘retirement poverty’ due to the gender pay gap (and need to work 37 years longer to catch up with men)

9-Mar-21 – This is Money: Women who divorced in retirement urged to check state pensions

8-Mar-21 – The Express: State Pension blunder: 200,000 people owed money – are you one? How to check

8-Mar-21 – Labour List: 92% of net savings to Treasury since 2010 shouldered by women, says Whittome

8-Mar-21 – Business Matters: 200,000 UK women in line for pension back-payments averaging £13,500

8-Mar-21 – The Express: State pension: DWP addresses frozen pensions as World War 2 pilot gets just £46.90 a week

8-Mar-21 – House of Commons: Craig Whittaker (Con) also asks the DWP Chief the same question

8-Mar-21 – House of Commons: EDM 1600 – Uprating of state pensions

8-Mar-21 – House of Commons: David Linden (SNP) asks the DWP chief when she will respond to the Canadian Embassy

22-Feb-21 – Canadian Parliament: Opposition Member asks Minister if she has spoken with the CABP 

13-Feb-21 – Daily Telegraph: ‘We’ve been left with nothing’: Windrush families suffer pensions freeze

9-Feb-21 – House of Commons: MPs speak out on frozen British Pensions

8-Feb-21 – House of Commons Briefing Note: Overseas British Pensions (SN01457)

3-Feb-21 – The Senior (Australia): Significant distress: Pensioners plunged into poverty by morally wrong policy

30-Jan-21 – The Telegraph: New hope for 500k ‘frozen pensioners’

27-Jan-21 – House of Commons: Peter Dowd, MP, raises Frozen Pensions at PMQs  

18-Jan-21 – House of Commons: Question (134521) for Department for Work and Pensions

Chris Elmore (Lab):To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she last discussed a reciprocal social security agreement with the Government of Canada?”.

Guy Opperman (Con)(Minister of Pensions): “The Department for Work and Pensions has not had any recent discussions on this issue with the Government of Canada. The Department plans to respond shortly to the request from Canada for a reciprocal social security agreement.”

18-Jan-21 – House of Commons: Question (134520) for Department for Work and Pensions

Chris Elmore (Lab): “To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has responded to the Canadian Government’s request for a reciprocal social security arrangement covering uprating; and if she will make a statement?”

Guy Opperman (Con)(Minister of Pensions): “The Department for Work and Pensions has not had any recent discussions on this issue with the Government of Canada. The Department plans to respond shortly to the request from Canada for a reciprocal social security agreement”.

15-Jan-21 – House of Commons: Question for Department for Work and Pensions

12-Jan-21 – Daily Express: State pension UK: DWP urged to simplify the old and new payment system

12-Jan-21 – New European: Brexit changes lead to exodus of Brits from Spain, UK nationals claim

11-Jan-21 – Actuarial Post: Do we need a final round of state pension simplification

11-Jan-21 – Daily Express: State pension UK: Payments can be boosted after being claimed – deferment rules explained

11-Jan-21 – Majorca Daily Bulletin: “Brexpats”, forgotten by the UK government

Anne Hernández, president of the Brexpats in Spain association, says that British residents feel “forgotten” by the UK government. It is a sense of abandonment which concerns residents most. 

…..the half a million British pensioners living in the EU continue to receive free healthcare and an uprated UK state pension…..meanwhile there are another half a million British pensioners living in predominantly Commonwealth countries who have to pay for their own healthcare, and they do not receive the uprated UK state pension – we are the “forgotten” UK pensioners who have been “abandoned”… 

8-Jan-21 – Daily Express: Boris Johnson boost: Brexit deal narrowly dodged expats from EU overwhelming NHS

7-Jan-21 – Actuarial Post: Brexit deal saves state pension increases

“But had no deal been struck, this might not have been the case for those moving abroad and retiring in future. The loss of inflation protection on a full state pension could have cost overseas pensioners around £138,700. It was only on New Year’s Eve that the UK Government updated its guidance to confirm the same increases would apply to those moving to the EEA or Switzerland in future.”

7-Jan-21 – Daily Express: State pension: Victory for expats as they win £140k pension promise EACH

“BRITISH OAPs living abroad have been guaranteed state pension rises – likely to be worth about £140,000 over a 20-year retirement. The move, confirmed on New Year’s Eve, removes the threat of “frozen” pensions for older people wishing to retire in the sunshine…

….so, where is the cash for those pensioners who are living in “frozen” countries? If you are one of these pensioners, write to your last UK MP – they can be accessed here. Write to them today…

6-Jan-21 – Interactive Investor: Future British expats to get state pension boost

6-Jan-21 – International Adviser: Pension increases protected for Brits in the EU

…the last-minute deal has now secured pension uprating for British expats living in the 27 member states and Switzerland, avoiding missing out on nearly £140,000 ($188,784, €155,026) over the life of the pension, research by Aegon found.

…so, when do we get our last-minute deal for the uprating of our state pension?

6-Jan-21 – iPolitics: British citizens in Canada ask government for help in pension fight

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday about a wide range of issues that did not include ending Britain’s frozen-pension policy, which is affecting Britons living in Canada….

….this shows just how big a mountain we have to climb….

6-Jan-21 – PensionsAge: Govt has no plans to change ‘frozen’ expat state pension policy

Baroness Stedman-Scott (House of Lords Pensions Minister) in a response to a Written Question from Lord Jones:

“The UK state pension is payable worldwide to those who meet the qualifying conditions. It is uprated where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example, where recipients are living in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for uprating. The government has no plans to change the policy on uprating UK state pensions overseas; the policy is longstanding and has been supported by successive governments for over 70 years. The government understands that people move abroad for many reasons and that this can have an impact on their finances. However, the decision to move abroad remains a personal choice. Advice that the UK state pension is not uprated overseas except where there is a legal requirement has been provided to the public for many years”. 

….somebody needs to inform Baroness Stedman-Scott that bilateral agreements are not necessary in order to uprate the state pension (Freedom of Information Request 595 raised in 2013 where the DWP confirmed this). It is purely a matter of political will….

3-Jan-21 – Sunday Express: Veteran’s hope for end to ‘scandal’ of frozen pensions – ‘I’m ashamed to be British’

“This shameful policy has been allowed to continue for far too long. 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, APPG for Frozen British Pensions

2-Jan-21 – Daily Express: Pension news: Retirement savings at risk after Brexit deal – ‘Little choice but to sell’

“For years the client’s State Pension has been paid into a UK bank account, but now, under the new terms of the deal, he has been informed that because he’s not resident in the UK – even though he’s British by birth – his bank account will have to be shut down within 30 days”.

– Jonathan Hives, Arlo International

1-Jan-2021 – International Express: Pensions bid for expats in Australia and Canada

1-Jan-2021 – The Express: State pension payments are rising in 2021 – but half a million pensioners will miss out

1-Jan-2021 – The Express: State pension: DWP updates guidance on getting UK state pension overseas amid Brexit deal

This is the dirty side of the UK Government. The only mechanism that the Government has to uprate pensions in the EU is through (new) bilateral agreements. This is after the DWP have maintained for years that there would be no new bilateral agreements because they are too expensive. Clearly, pensioners living in “frozen” countries are being discriminated yet again. Write to your “local” MP and your UK MP asking them why new bilateral agreements have been struck now after they have maintained for many years that no new agreements would be negotiated because of the cost, and also ask them why there are no new agreements for UK pensioners living in “frozen countries”. This is discrimination – pure and simple. 

01-Jan-2021 – Your Money.com: 10 tips for those retiring in 2021