Some time ago you kindly signed a petition supporting the call by my mother, Anne Puckridge, to end ‘frozen’ pensions – a scandal that condemns hundreds of thousands of overseas British pensioners to poverty. I’m writing to share a short update and a small request in the hope that you might be willing to support Anne once more.
Since you pledged your support, the UK state pension has risen to more than £200 per week – yet Anne, a 99-year-old WW2 veteran, receives a UK state pension ‘frozen’ at just £72.50, less than half the full retirement she is rightly owed. Many others are even worse off having to survive on a UK state pension of as little as £20 per week. This freezing is because Anne moved later in life, like most of the others affected, to a country without a so-called reciprocal agreement with the UK. This cruel injustice is made far worse by the fact that most of those affected, including Anne, were not even told their pensions would be frozen in this way.
Last week, Anne wrote personally to Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey – calling on them to make a manifesto commitment to End Frozen Pensions.
Anne’s letters received great coverage in the Daily Express, which you can read in full here. But we need to get this scandal much higher up the political and media agenda at this vital time. Please would you help us by retweeting/sharing this important coverage and call to action by using our template below:
We are hugely grateful for your support. As the UK focuses on the nation’s politicians during this election campaign, we hope you will feel able to add your voice to our call for urgent action – reminding the political Parties that Anne and thousands more deserve their attention. They did right by their country – it is time to do right by them and end their suffering.
And if you want to stay updated with the campaign, give us a follow on X @pensionjustice!
Thank you.
Gill