Tag Archives: overseas pensions

The choice is yours – your full pension or your family

By Colin Bloodworth | Thu 14th December 2023 - 2:10 pm

This is the stark choice facing half a million British pensioners abroad (outside Europe and the US) whose UK state pensions are currently frozen due to a flawed policy decision taken just after the Second World War and which no government has since had the courage to address.

On 4^th December the Home Secretary announced a five-point plan to attempt to reduce immigration into the UK. As a result, from 24^th April 2024, the minimum salary requirement for people who want to bring a foreign family member or partner to the UK will more than double from £18,600 to £38,700.

There is uncertainty as to whether the new income requirement will apply to people who already have a family member in the UK when their existing visa comes up for renewal.

This will have an immense impact on families across a broad spectrum of industries from health and caregivers to education.

That is why Lib Dems Abroad have launched a petition to gather public support against yet another injustice to those of us living overseas.

Here is the link to the petition.

Please join us by signing it!

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged pensions | 7 Comments

Triple lock restored but half a million miss out

By Colin Bloodworth | Tue 5th April 2022 - 12:35 pm

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey has confirmed that the government will remain committed to the state pension triple lock for the rest of this parliament, following the temporary move to a ‘double lock’ in 2022 because of pandemic distortions.

This means that in April 2023 British state pensioners will once again receive an uplift at the highest of the rise in earnings, price inflation or 2.5%. Due to the huge increase in the cost of living this year, and depending on what this amounts to by September, the increase in April 2023 could be 8% or higher.

It may appear generous but pensioners will still have to cope with inflationary pressures for a whole year while waiting for the increase to take effect. And let’s not forget that the increase they are receiving this year will be less than originally promised by the government in their election manifesto.

Even with the Triple Lock, the fact is that the British state pension is one of the lowest relative to average earnings among the developed countries constituting the OECD.

There is another fallacy that is overlooked even by the unions. Namely the concept of cost of living increases calculated in terms of percentages. For a low earner or pensioner with an annual income of £10,000 an increase of 8% would amount to £800 whereas a person with an income of £100,000 would receive an increase of £8,000! The tax brackets may reduce the disparity a little but it should be obvious that the system simply results in an ever-widening gap in monetary terms between the rich and the poor.