Anne Puckeridge, a Second World War veteran, has been living on a meagre state pension of just £72.50 per week. And she is furious.
The hero was hoping the Budget might see an improvement in a situation that means her pension and that of many others does not go up each year. Instead, after Rachel Reeves spoke in the House of Commons and said nothing on the issue, Anne’s difficulties continue.
Retirees who relocate to certain countries, including some within the Commonwealth, face the prospect of their state pension payments being frozen for life.
This harsh reality has hit a nerve for Anne Puckeridge, who lives in Canada, and she is now planning to return to her homeland in hopes of securing a meeting with Rachel Reeves and the rest of the Labour government to discuss the “discriminatory” policy.
Following the Chancellor’s Budget, which failed to address the issue of frozen pensions despite years of desperate pleas from pensioners and campaigners, John Duguid, Chair of the End Frozen Pensions campaign, warned: “This Budget does nothing to help the nearly half a million overseas UK state pensioners consistently denied all of the annual increases in the state pension despite paying all their National Insurance dues.”
He added: “One such pensioner is soon to be 100 year old WW2 veteran Anne Puckridge who is making the 4,400-mile journey from her home in Canada in December to lobby MPs and challenge the Prime Minister to a meeting.”
Campaigners, feeling snubbed by the recent budget, are pinning their hopes on Labour to engage with Anne during her visit.
It comes especially after the Chancellor emphasised additional funding for veterans, memorials, and education about the Second World War’s legacy.
Anne, a veteran who served in all three branches of the armed forces and paid National Insurance throughout her working life in the UK, receives less than half the state pension she would be entitled to had she remained in Britain.
After moving to Canada at 76 to be closer to her daughter, Anne has not seen her state pension increase despite numerous uplifts over the years.
She has branded the frozen pension policy as “discriminatory” and claims she was never informed that her state pension would be frozen upon emigration.
Her daughter has started a petition to support her mother’s plight, and John has pointed out: “Every single one of us forgotten British overseas pensioners impacted by this cruel, outdated policy are immensely indebted to Anne for shedding light on this poorly understood scandal.
“That she is prepared to travel halfway across the world, aged nearly 100, to fight for others is a testament to her relentless drive and profound sense that it should not be this way.”
Speaking earlier this year on ‘frozen’ pensions, the government said: “Our priority is ensuring every pensioner receives the financial support to which they are entitled.
“The government’s policy on the uprating of the UK state pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one of more than 70 years and we continue to uprate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so.”
