The scandal of 500,000 elderly people whose state pensions never rise
Retirees who move abroad – to some countries, but not others – see their state pensions frozen at the level paid when they emigrated
Our state pension is something that many of us tend to assume will be there for us in retirement as we contribute our National Insurance. Yet almost half a million British pensioners are currently missing out on thousands of pounds a year that they are entitled to. Because they live abroad, but only in certain countries.
Perhaps surprisingly most of them are Commonwealth countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, often places people move to in retirement to be nearer their children or grandchildren. Even though they have paid all their working lives, their pensions are frozen at the level they were paid when they left the UK.
However, if they had moved to the US or an EU country, they would receive the upgrades because of reciprocal arrangements with the UK. Now one pensioner, 99-year-old Second World War veteran Anne Puckeridge, has decided that is not good enough.
In December, she turns 100 and, to mark her centenary, she is coming home from Canada. While she is here Anne wants to challenge the government to do something about the issue. If they are not prepared to step in and help, she will take her challenge directly to Downing Street.
Anne was 76 when she emigrated after a lifetime in which she had served the country as a codebreaker during the Second World War and she paid National Insurance throughout. But the pension she now receives is the same as it was 22 years ago and won’t be upgraded this year in common with almost half million others frozen out from the ‘Triple Lock’ upgrade.
They are not asking for an expensive back-dated settlement, just that they are included in the same uplift as other British pensioners all over the world. Many of my own constituents have been in touch worried about relatives affected by the freeze. I have even been contacted by former Edinburgh West residents who have moved abroad.
And that is another issue which is exacerbating the problem. Although a recent change in legislation means that every Briton who moves abroad is entitled to MP representation in the constituency where they last lived, many MPs are unaware of the change. Representations are falling on deaf ears.
This week I raised the issue in the Commons and have asked for a meeting with ministers to hear exactly what the new government proposes to do about this long-running issue. The problem, I know, is that there are reciprocal agreements in those countries where the pensions are not upgraded in the way that there are in some others. But for Anne, and the thousands like her, that is no excuse.
And if there has not been some indication from this Labour government that they will rectify the situation, then I shall be joining Anne when she takes her case to the Prime Minister’s door. I haven’t often thought about my retirement, my family fear I’ll never do it.
But when the day comes, if I were to find myself in the same position as those half a million people who have worked and paid their National Insurance, I would hope my MP would stand up for me. It’s what they deserve.
Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West
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