Falklands veteran calls on Keir Starmer to finish frozen state pensions scandal | Politics | News | EUROtoday

A Falklands veteran has referred to as on Sir Keir Starmer to finish the frozen state pensions scandal. Roger Edwards, 79, who served within the Falklands War, urged the Government to take a look at the difficulty once more for the British Overseas Territory.

He is one in all greater than 400,000 British retirees residing overseas whose state pensions have been frozen from the date they left. His plea comes as a representatives from counties together with the Falkland Islands, Canada, Australia and South Africa are participating in a dialogue on the difficulty in Parliament on Wednesday.

Mr Edwards, a former Royal Marine and Royal Navy officer, moved to the Falklands in 1986 together with his spouse Norma, a Falkland Islander he met within the UK.

He stated: “I paid my national insurance all the time I was in the military and when I left the military I carried on paying my contributions expecting a full pension when I finally retired.

“No one ever informed us that it was going to be frozen. It was a little bit of a shock after I received a letter saying as your home of residence is now the Falkland Islands it’ll be frozen.”

Mr Edwards’ state pension has been frozen at just £106 per week and despite his service to the country it is not uprated each year in line with the triple lock as for pensioners living in the UK.

In a message to the Prime Minister, he said: “The nonsense of frozen pensions must be performed away with instantly. I do know they’re in need of cash, Britain is damaged in some ways and need to borrow to get by. But for the individuals down right here within the Falkland Islands I feel they must look once more.

“I think we in the Falkland Islands they should look again and stop freezing old age pensions for those people who decide to retire to the Falkland Islands. We are British, we carry British passports, we have the full right to vote, the right to work in the UK and everything else. And I think we should have our pensions uprated annually as per everyone else in the UK.”

The coverage, which has been in place since 1945, means many British retirees residing overseas have their state pension funds frozen on the degree they have been after they left.

There are agreements with some nations to uprate funds, however most wouldn’t have reciprocal preparations in place.

It comes as diplomats, campaigners and cross-party MPs will participate in a diplomatic roundtable in Parliament on Wednesday.

Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, who’s chairing the session, stated: “It is highly unusual for Parliament to host this many international partners coming together on a single UK policy issue.

“Frozen pensions have always by definition had an international dimension but what we are seeing now is something different. A coordinated moment where affected countries are engaging collectively, reflecting the growing concern about the policy’s impact on their own countries and their relationship with the UK.

“The purpose of this meeting is to coordinate a shared message to the Government that these countries are ready and willing to find a solution on this.”

Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt added: “This policy is failing British citizens and increasingly embarrassing the UK internationally.

“When British World War Two and Falklands veterans are being left thousands of pounds worse off, through no fault of their own, it is sign that something isn’t right.

“And seeing countries like Australia and Canada openly challenge the UK over this when we need our closest political allies the most, surely suggests that we need to look at this policy differently. The UK can’t keep asking other countries to pick up the tab for a policy that is clearly unfair.”

The session will embrace a video message from 101-year-old Second World War veteran Anne Puckridge, who lives in Canada and has lengthy campaigned on the difficulty.

John Duguid, board chair of the End Frozen Pensions marketing campaign, stated the roundtable dialogue “should be a wake-up call” for the Government.

He stated: “This is the moment this issue shifts from being quietly tolerated to impossible to ignore. You have a Falklands veteran telling his story, the Falkland Islands Government represented in Parliament, and some of the UK’s closest allies coming to Parliament to raise the same concern.

“For too long, this policy has been written off as complicated or low priority. But when hundreds of thousands of British citizens are being short-changed and other countries are left to pick up the consequences, it becomes very simple. The UK Government now has a clear choice: fix this, or continue defending the indefensible.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Work and Pensions stated: “We understand people move abroad for many reasons, and we provide clear information on how this can impact their finances in retirement.

“Where the UK has a reciprocal agreement, as with the United States and EU member states, pensioners receive annual uprating, however, this does not apply in every country and for those relocating, information is available on the government website.

“This policy has been in place for over 70 years and there are currently no plans to change this.”