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About 4 percent of pensioners receiving a pension from the British Government have it frozen at the time of receipt and never receive an increase whereas, the other 96 percent of pensioners receive an increase every year. Most of these frozen pensioners live in the Commonwealth and many live in the Caribbean including some from the Windrush generation.
In his blog, Sir Richard Branson says “I was surprised to learn recently that more than half a million British pensioners living overseas are facing tough times as they get older as the government has frozen their State pensions.”
He goes on to say – “The system seems very unfair. A pensioner aged 90 living on a frozen pension would receive £41.25 per week, whereas a pensioner retiring today would get £155 per week. The different amounts are based on where they live and nothing else.”
As Sir Richard points out – “Many pensioners have paid into the system their entire lives and expected to be supported through retirement. The policy deprives many of them from choosing where they want to spend their retirement, often with their family, as it could be financially illogical to move abroad.”
The International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP) together with its Caribbean arm, the British Caribbean Pensioners Association (BCPA), is pressurising the U.K. Government to change this unfair, illogical and unjust policy and last week, with the assistance of the Government of Antigua & Barbuda, put its case at the Delegate Conference to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.
The ICBP has instituted other actions including issuing a summons against the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer for unpaid pensions, meeting with numerous British Members of Parliament to garner support for a change, carrying out a survey which showed that more than 75% of the British public are unaware that its government behaves in this iniquitous manner and publicising the case by having large vans driving around London proclaiming the injustice perpetrated by the U.K. Government.
Support for frozen pensioners from Sir Richard Branson is much appreciated and will help to raise the profile of the plight of many British pensioners suffering from the poverty deliberately imposed upon them by the U.K. Government. (By The International Consortium of British Pensioners)
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