The British Government seems increasingly determined to disown British citizens who have chosen to live abroad, writes John Markham
It seems that barely a month goes past without news of some new attempt by Her Majesty's Government to distance itself from the millions of British citizens living abroad .
The most recent example of this is the reported governmental (albeit Scottish) move to disenfranchise all Scottish nationals living abroad at the time of the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence, whilst registered voters resident in Scotland will be entitled to vote regardless of their country of origin.
This follows closely, of course, on the heels of recent debates in Westminster on the disenfranchisement of British citizens after 15 years of residence abroad, and the dismissal of the case of expat James Preston, who tried to take the matter to the High Court. The 15-year limit flies in the face of practices elsewhere in the world, especially Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) , where not only do expat citizens have voting rights in their country of origin, but also in certain countries have their own representation witness the fact that expat Italians resident in Canada, for example, vote in their own deputy to represent their interests in Rome.
Similarly, the UK Government persists in the freezing of the UK Basic State Pension (BSP (Tel Aviv: BSP.TA - news) ) entitlement of some 50 per cent of all 1.1 million expat recipients, dependent on where they reside. These are individuals who lived, worked and paid their mandatory NI Contributions in the UK exactly the same as recipients of the BSP residing in the UK and in the EU, who not only receive annual indexation of the BSP but also all kinds of benefits. But if they have happened to have moved to any one of 132 countries (including most of the Commonwealth countries), they are forced to exist on a pension that has been frozen at the same rate it was when they first started drawing it abroad. Here again they stand alone: countries such as Australia, Canada and most European countries annually uprate the equivalent state pension of their citizens residing abroad.
This discrimination flies in the face of all that is fair, and all that is British. It goes without saying that politicians of all stripes have trumpeted long and hard against this discrimination whilst in opposition, but reversed their stance when they achieve power. The current coalition is a perfect example; both leaders and indeed the current minister for pensions once actively supported expat demands for global pension parity. Now they are in power, lo and behold they have changed their minds.
There are estimated to be between 5.4 and seven million Brits living and working abroad, many of whom pay British taxes, and even work for British companies. The Government disregards their contribution. By the same token there are many individuals from the Commonwealth working in the UK, contributing to the national insurance fund and entitled to vote. Will they be cast off in a similar manner by an ungrateful country, if they decide to retire back to their home country once they reach pensionable age?
Maybe the time has come in this year of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee for the Government to reflect on the achievement of British expats working and/or living abroad. It overlooks the fact that a lot of British wealth and its international reputation is largely due to the work of British citizens, who have lived and worked abroad since the earliest days of colonialism; that British expats made significant contributions to the formation of the Commonwealth; and the fact that the Britain owes a considerable debt to its expat pensioners, many of whom risked their lives for crown and country during the Second World War and are now largely ignored by those who benefit from their sacrifices.
This year of celebration of all that is British is a time for the Government to abandon its apparent disregard for its citizens abroad and acknowledge what they have contributed to making Britain great, and continue to do so. They should provide lifetime franchise and pension parity to all current and future British citizens overseas. That is the only only fair and just solution ahead.
John Markham is the UK director of the International Consortium for British Pensioners.
Telegraph Expat is supporting the campaign to uprate British expat pensions. Find out more about the plight of British pensioners abroad here. An e-petition against the policy can be signed here .
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