Stop the freezing of old age pensions

Successive governments have frozen the pensions of those pensioners who choose to retire in some of the Commonwealth countries whereas pensioners living in the Europe, the USA and the Philippines for example benefit from the annual uprating. This is a discriminatory policy which is seriously affecting many pensioners who are now living in poverty having had no pension increase for 20 or 30 yrs or more. These people worked all of their lives paying their taxes and National Insurance  and are now being denied through a policy which has no logic. This also affects the freedom of future pensioners who have to decide whether to go to a frozen country to be with their family or stay in the UK to get the annual increases,        No consideration is given to the fact that these pensioners are not costing the NHS, do not get winter heating allowance or Christmas bonus or any other benefit which saves the government money but they say that they cannot afford to pay for it whilst getting very generous pensions themselves paid for by the taxpayer. Most of these are ex-servicemen, either full time or National service who spent time away from family and were there in times of conflict only to be abandoned when reaching retirement.  Disgraceful, unjust, seriously dishonest and not the way of the British who always play the game unless it affects pensioners it seems.

Why does this matter?

Because discrimination in any form is to be discouraged. These pensioners have paid the same as all of those who DO get the increases annually and to deny them is just plain robbery.

There are many who fought in WW11 and who would get the increase if they were still in the place where they were held prisoners of war. Having won the war they lost their peace.  Many families are supporting these pensioners who cannot afford todays inflated prices with their inflationless pension. They cannot afford to return to the UK either.  If all of these pensioners were to return , then the cost to the country would be many times more than the increase.

Gordon Brown had the audacity to say that "Britishness is being fair" but did nothing about it.

David Cameron  –  it is now your turn.  Are you going to continue to deny these people their rightful pension  or do you have a conscience ?

Suggested by morgeo and tagged pensions, pensions freeze. 1 Comment. Image source