mission in London. INSIDE · Tel: 905-450-9028 • Email: [email protected] Orillia/Barrie: Alan...

Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners Visit us at www.BritishPensions.com

Issue #4, 2017

Another London mission underway

A delegation of campaigners with the International Consortium of British Pensioners is in London

on a lobbying mission just as this issue of JUSTICE goes to press. They have a packed week of meetings scheduled with people of influence including journalists from The Times, Guardian, Daily Mail and Daily Mirror and a large number of parliamentarians in Westminster.

The delegation will meet with Labour’s shadow minister for pensions, Alex Cunningham, who is responsible for ad-vancing the official opposition’s policy for the elimination of pension freezing. They will also meet with MP Mhairi Black, SNP’s new pensions spokesperson (her

predecessor, Ian Blackford—an outspo-ken advocate for pension justice—is now the leader of his party in Westminster).

They will meet as well with a represen-tative from the DUP, traditional support-ers of pension justice and now vital to the Conservative Government’s parliamen-tary majority. In addition, it is hoped that the government’s pensions minister, Guy Opperman, will attend a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Frozen British Pensions that is scheduled to take place during the week.

Taken as a whole, the mission’s goal is to tee up strong support for the APPG’s efforts to annul the legislation that will once again freeze pensions in 2018, and to stress the inequity of protecting EU-resident pensioners while others remain frozen. In addition, it aims to build even more support amongst the large number of new MPs elected in 2017.

The ICBP delegation consists of Sheila Telford, Colin Rainsbury and Ian Andexser from Canada, Jim Tilley and Brian Owles from Australia, and John Duffy from Antigua. Their programme has been organised by our London PR agency, PHA Media.

ICBP Chairman Sheila Telford (right) is backed by Baroness Floella Benjamin during a previous lobbying mission in London.

INSIDEGrassroots Tories object to freezing . . . 3

Chairman’s Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Fish & Chips + side order . . . . . . . . . . 5

Our All-Party Parliamentary Group . . . . 5

Call for nominations to CABP board . . . 8

Mailbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

It’s year-endDON’T LET YOUR CABP MEMBERSHIP EXPIRE CHECK EXPIRY DATE ON YOUR ADDRESS LABEL or e-JUSTICE email

Renew at www.BritishPensions.comOR Phone 416-253-6402 • 1-888-591-3964

OR Mail in the application form on p. 15

A sterling giftThe ideal gift for anyone in your life who has ever worked in Britain? A CABP membership, of course! This is the only gift that has the potential to turn itself into solid sterling (literally!) for every recipient. Clearly a gift for every occasion.

Thank you to Rupert & Daisy Earle for sharing their inspiration with us. The Burlington (Ontario) couple has been giving CABP memberships to friends for some time already.

A sterling giftPh

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Tim

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2 - JUSTICE #4, 2017

JUSTICE is published by:

CANADIAN ALLIANCE OF BRITISH PENSIONERS

National Office: 202–4800 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M9A 1B1Tel: 416-253-6402 • Toll free: 1-888-591-3964Email: [email protected]: www.BritishPensions.com

OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday-Friday, 10 am to 2 pm (Eastern Time)

Editor: Rosalind Tosh • [email protected]

Advertising: Malcolm Campbell [email protected]

© Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners

CHAPTER CONTACTSONTARIO:

GTA & Surround: Margaret Wells Tel: 905-450-9028 • Email: [email protected]

Orillia/Barrie: Alan Llewellyn Tel: 705-329-0894 • Email: [email protected]

Oshawa: George Morley Tel: 905-697-3783 • Email: [email protected]

Ottawa: Tony Bockman Tel: 613-627-9675 • Email: [email protected]

Windsor: Ian Spencer Tel: 519-739-0808 • Email: [email protected]

ALBERTA: Sheila Telford Tel: 403-245-8541 • Email: [email protected]

MANITOBA: Ken Butchart Tel: 204-222-6983 • Email: [email protected]

NEW BRUNSWICK: Franklin Cardy Tel: 506-529-4280 • Email: [email protected]

NOVA SCOTIA: Michael Alford Tel: 902-835-9780 • Email: [email protected]

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Stephen Lowe Tel: 902-963-4009 • Email: [email protected]

QUEBEC: Richard Yates Tel: 514-631-9020 • Email: [email protected]

BRITISH COLUMBIA:Greater Victoria: Alan McFarlane Tel: 250-995-9356 • Email: [email protected]

Nanaimo: Ian Andexser Tel: 250-758-7594 • Email: [email protected]

Sooke Area: Fred Whittaker, Tel: 250-642-4968 • Email: [email protected]

Squamish: Bill Avery Tel: 604 896 1575 • Email: [email protected]

Elsewhere: Ian Andexser Tel: 250-758-7594 • Email: [email protected]

OTHER CANADIAN LOCATIONS & INTERNATIONAL: CABP Office: Tel: 416-253-6402 or 1-888-591-3964Email: [email protected]

Please note: All comments, information, articles, opinions and answers appearing in JUSTICE or provided by CABP or its volunteers are offered in good faith but are not intended to be a substitute for informed professional advice.

Editorial by Rosalind Tosh

Deadline for submissions to the next issue: 2 January 2018

Ten MPs in Westminster have the power to persuade the Conservative Government to end pension freezing today. It is incumbent on us to convince them to do so.

They are the elected members of the Democratic Unionist Party, the party that was thrust into the role of kingmaker when the Conservatives found themselves in a minority position after the 2017 general election and turned to the DUP for the support that allows them to remain in power.

We want these DUP MPs to make their support of the Government conditional, at least in part, upon the Government supporting global pension parity—a more than fair barter for the Government, I’d say.

Global pension parity is standard policy for OECD countries, the UK, to its shame, being the only anomaly among the 35 member nations. Join me in telling this to the kingmakers today.

Tell them also that they can bet a pound to a penny that many of their constitu-ents have a personal stake in the matter. They include the ones who know a fellow Brit who is struggling to live on a frozen pension—like the “lovely British lady” in her mid-90s who gets a paltry £19 a week (see Grassroots Tories object to freezing in this issue)—and they include the ones who are afraid to join their children and grandchildren in a country where that could happen to them too.

Tell them you are writing on a parliamentary matter, not a constituency one—a matter that continues to be debated in Parliament. If you are a former resident of their constituency, let them know that too, emphasizing the fact that you still can vote in elections there, if that is indeed the case.

It is a rare thing to have government kingmakers at hand in the UK. I personally intend to make use of the extraordinary opportunity.

The kingmakersIn alphabetical order, the powers behind the Conservative throne are:

1. Gregory Campbell, MP (East Londonderry): [email protected]

2. Nigel Dodds, MP (North Belfast): [email protected]

3. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, MP (Lagan Valley): [email protected]

4. Paul Girvan, MP (South Antrim): [email protected]

5. Emma Little Pengelly, MP (South Belfast): [email protected]

6. Ian Paisley, MP (North Antrim): [email protected]

7. Gavin Robinson, MP (East Belfast): [email protected]

8. Jim Shannon, MP (Strangford): [email protected]

9. David Simpson, MP (Upper Bann): [email protected]

10. Sammy Wilson, MP (East Antrim): [email protected]

CABP Office Holiday Hours The office will be closed from December 23rd to January 2nd.

CABP Office Holiday Hours

JUSTICE #4, 2017 - 3

The leader of the official opposi-tion in Westminster, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, has tabled an

Early Day Motion calling for the legislation that imposed pension freez-ing for 2017 to be revoked through an Order-in-Council— the strongest measure possible.

Mr Corbyn tabled EDM 159 shortly before the Commons rose for the summer recess and it remains open for signatures of support by all MPs until the current parliamentary session ends next spring. It needs to collect a large number of MPs’ signatures if it is to be allotted time for a debate and vote.

To determine if the MP for your UK constituency has signed, please check here: www.parliament.uk/edm/2017-19/159. If not, please ask him or her to do so as soon as possible.

EDMs are formal motions submitted for debate “on an early day” and MPs register their support by adding their signatures.

Has your MP signed EDM 159? Westminster takes note of “significant interest”

A million thanks go to everyone who responded to our appeal this summer for members to write to British MPs asking them to push for pension upratings for all overseas pensioners, not just those in the EU—and asking them to sign EDM 159. Because of your taking action, MPs in the new parliament tell us they have become keenly aware of the “significant interest” in the issue.

Make your pointTo those of you who have not yet written, please take a moment and do so. EDM 159 remains open for signature until next spring.

Your letter could allude to the following points:

• Our pensions have been frozen for 70 years.

• The consistent explanation (that uprating is applied only where there is a legal requirement to do so) is now invalid, given the government’s recent commitment to uprate all countries in the EU after Brexit.

• The additional cost to index all pensioners is estimated to be a mere 0.7% of the pension budget.

• Please sign EDM 159 to indicate support for global pension justice.

It’s also a smart idea to state right up front that you are writing about a parliamentary issue, not a constituency one. Otherwise the MP’s office “gatekeeper” might not pass your letter along to the MP and simply send you an automated non-response because you live outside the constituency.

MP Robin Walker, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Britain’s Department for Exiting the European Union, got an earful from members of Conservatives

Abroad on the topic of pension freezing when he participated in the organization’s annual conference in London in October.

Christopher Chantrey, political advisor to the organization and a resident of France, informed the minister of a fabricated myth that has long been bandied by the UK government, i.e., that a reciprocal agreement between countries is required in order for uprating to be given.

Alistair Kinloch, Conservatives Abroad’s official representative in Canberra, illustrated the harshness of the freezing policy by speaking about a “lovely British lady” in his church congregation in Australia. Now in her mid-90s, she receives a UK state pen-sion of £19 per week.

Conservatives Abroad is a global network of people living overseas who are supporters of Britain’s Conservative Party. It provides a platform for political discussion on matters of mutual interest. Our thanks to Mr Chantrey for keeping us informed. Government minister Robin Walker got an earful from grass root Conservatives.

Grassroots Tories object to freezing

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As I take over the responsibilities of chairing CABP, I am conscious of how much is owed to those who have headed this organization before me. They are the ones

who made it possible for the issue of frozen pensions to be lifted out of obscurity to a place where it is reported on by mass media in Britain on a recurring basis. They are the ones who made it possible for the resolution of the issue to be adopted as party policy by Labour and other political parties in Britain. They are the ones who made it possible for the issue to be routinely included on the list of topics for discussion whenever a Canadian PM meets with his British counterpart.

So much for the naysayers who suggest nothing has been accomplished!

Looking backwards through CABP’s last 15 years, these cham-pions for pension justice have been Dave Morris, Sheila Telford, Brian Lechem, Peter Kennan, Tony Bockman and, again, Brian Lechem. I will do my utmost to uphold their leadership legacy.

My personal thanks at this time go to my immediate predeces-sor, Dave, who skilfully guided us through the past four years while also working fulltime in his career. Workload has now made it necessary for him to relinquish the chair, however he remains on the board and will continue to maintain CABP’s website and sup-port our office technology. Thank you indeed, Dave.

My (his)storyBack in 1975 when I landed in Toronto as a 24-year-old adven-turer, the last thing on my mind was a pension. My plan was to hitchhike west to Vancouver, travel through the US and then head off around the globe before returning home to Bournemouth to take over the running of the family hotel. Fate, however, had other plans. I received the offer of a job in Edmonton and there I met Dianne, the Canadian who was to become my wife—and that, as they say, was that. For the next 30 years I lived in Alberta until we moved to Vancouver Island in 2005.

I bumped into CABP a dozen or so years ago when I was in my fifties. Until then, I had always assumed I could not qualify for a British pension with only six years of National Insurance payments to my record. I immediately joined, and that was certainly one of the smartest things I have ever done because the advice I received from the organisation allowed me, as of last year, to start receiving a healthy pension from the UK.

I began to volunteer for CABP seven years ago and have served on the national board since 2013. Today, as chairman, I see my primary responsibility as being the expansion of our member-ship numbers across Canada, because that is the only way the all-important political campaign at the heart of government in the UK can continue. That campaign depends totally on our membership fees and donations to our Action Fund (along with those of our partner organization in Australia) for support.

Sizeable pool to fish inGiven the sizeable pool of people in Canada with a vested interest in our work, it should not be difficult to grow CABP’s numbers. There are 145,000 frozen pensioners—and I can only believe more of them have not joined because they simply don’t yet know we exist—plus another 100,000 who have still to reach pensionable age, all of whom deserve to be informed that a pen-sion will be theirs for the claiming. By continuing to tell friends about CABP and encouraging strangers with a British accent to check out our website each one of us can rectify that situation. And I know firsthand that we will be doing every single one of them a potentially huge favour.

To help get the ball rolling, we have provided a poster in this issue for clipping out and displaying in a public venue. Likewise, there is a page of business cards for clipping and giving to people.

My passionI am passionate about our issue and I pledge to give it my all. CABP members also contribute greatly. Your letters and emails to MPs in the UK and in Canada are an essential tactic in the strategy that has moved our campaign from obscurity to headline news. Now we must work at remaining there.

Your input—every single missive to MPs—is vital to that. So please, whenever we ask, keep those letters and emails flowing. Don’t give up because you get a formulaic response or none at all. Just keep pounding away. The squeaky wheel really does get the attention.

Chairman’s Columnby Ian Andexser, CABP Chairman

Our members are persons of lettersWe often leave copies of JUSTICE for the general public to pick up in communal places like libraries, community centres, pubs and legion halls—and we know for certain that reading personal anecdotes really encourages people to investigate our alliance more earnestly. So we are asking members to send in letters telling how CABP has been of value to you personally.

Perhaps we showed you how to increase your pension amount? Did we remind you to claim a temporary uprating while visiting the UK or another non-frozen country? Was there any other information we supplied that has benefited you in some way? Please let us know through our office or by email to [email protected]

Your letter in JUSTICE could gain CABP another new member—and that’s how we (and the campaign for pension justice) will grow from strength to strength.

JUSTICE #4, 2017 - 5

Theresa May on the record

British PM Theresa May was an MP sitting on the Official Opposition benches when CABP member Reginald Forrest wrote to her in 2008 protesting pension freezing

and pointing out that more than 95 per cent of ‘frozen’ pension-ers live in Commonwealth countries. In her response, Ms May stated:

“I am disturbed by the way the Government is seemingly undermining the Commonwealth and penalizing those Britains who have chosen to relocate to a member country.”

The year before, she had responded to an earlier letter from Mr Forrest, saying:

“I can assure you that…the Shadow Work and Pensions team continue to investigate this matter and look into the best way of helping British pensioners living abroad.”

Fish & chips with a side order of pension rights

Imagine going out for a feed of good old fish and chips and returning home with your craving satisfied plus a monthly pension you had paid for but didn’t know you could collect.

That’s a real-life experience for Brits in Canada who discovered CABP when their local restaurant placed a poster or brochures about us in their establishment.

There are all sorts of businesses, organizations, clubs and groups across this country that hold particular appeal for people from the UK. We are eager to approach every single one of them to ask that they display our poster and our brochures—and possibly receive free reciprocal advertising in our magazine in return.

Examples include specialty British shops, bakeries, restaurants and pubs, societies such as St George’s, St Andrew’s and St David’s, Welsh choirs, fan clubs for supporters of football teams or programs like Coronation Street, etc.

Your list, please

We are asking CABP members to please send us the name of every establishment or group in your area, large or small, that you think may be relevant—and include contact details where possible. We’re willing to bet you could prepare a list from memory in less than ten minutes while sitting on the couch! Email your list to [email protected] or send it by post to CABP’s office.

APPG off to a running start in the new parliament

At the first meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Frozen British Pensions in the 2017-2019

session of parliament, Lord German re-ported that he had requested two debates in the upper chamber that would cover frozen pensions. He also instructed the APPG’s Secretariat to visit the National Archives at Kew to dig out any papers from the original bilateral social security deals with unfrozen countries.

The Group committed to examine in detail the government’s plan for EU pensioners following Brexit, and to add

pressure on the government to address the situation for all expats, not just those in the EU.

It was agreed that a challenge to the Social Security Benefit Up-rating Regulations (the legislation that freezes pensions) in March 2018 remains the most viable parliamentary mechanism to achieve change, and given the support of the Official Opposition, it was hoped that the government might compromise before a vote was needed.

Sir Roger Gale (Conservative) was re-elected as chair of the APPG.

Yasmin Qureshi and Lord German were re-elected as the Labour and Liberal Democrat vice-chairs respectively. Mhairi Black replaced Ian Blackford as the SNP vice-chair, as Mr Blackford has taken on the leadership of the party’s Westminster caucus. Sir Peter Bottomley (Conservative) was re-elected as the APPG’s treasurer.

The Group resolved to invite the DUP—the party holding the balance of power in Britain’s hung parliament—to nominate a vice-chair.

mailto:info%40britishpensions.com?subject=

mailto:info%40britishpensions.com?subject=

6 - JUSTICE #4, 2017

Several months ago I addressed a federal government trade com-mittee to emphasise why British

Pensions in Australia (BPiA) is deter-mined that any help provided to the UK by Australia regarding trade matters should be conditional upon the UK resolving, to Australia’s satisfaction, the frozen pensions issue. The committee of one senator and three cross-party MPs gave me the third degree. A few weeks later, however, it became apparent that they may indeed have gotten the message.

Boris Johnson, the UK’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, paid an official visit to Australia a fortnight or so after my presentation. A subsequent article in the prestigious Financial Times referring to his visit included the following statement: “A report by the (Australian) Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade…says Canberra will push London to increase the pen-sions of 250,000 retired Britons living in Australia in line with inflation.”

Implacable discriminationI have been promised a face-to-face meet-ing with our PM, Malcolm Turnbull, to discuss the potential for taking action on behalf of frozen pensioners—95 per cent of whom live in the Commonwealth—at next April’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.

I intend to make the case for Mr Turnbull to work with Canada’s Justin Trudeau and other Commonwealth lead-ers to initiate disciplinary action against the UK for consistently refusing to honour its commitment to abide by the Commonwealth Charter, specifically the Core Value that states: We are implaca-bly opposed to all forms of discrimina-tion. The charter was signed by Queen Elizabeth in 2013.

UK Pensioners’ ParliamentIn June I addressed the NPC’s annual Pensioners’ Parliament in Blackpool—widely regarded as one of Britain’s most important activities in the pensioner movement’s calendar—on behalf of the International Consortium of British Pensioners. It had been four years since we last presented there.

The audience of more than 500 souls appeared keenly interested in hearing about pension freezing and about ICBP’s campaign on behalf of pensioners around the globe. I emphasised how freezing impacts members of Britain’s black and minority ethnic communities in par-ticular, as many of them want to retire to their country of origin after a lifetime of working in Britain. I was plied with insightful questions at the end of my presentation—and I thank Tim Snowball of PHA Media (ICBP’s PR company) for providing me with an excellent frame-work on which to base my remarks.

Bureaucratic absurdityIn July BPiA addressed a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Frozen British Pensions. Brian Owles, our chairman, pointed out the “bureaucratic absurdity” of having a government bureau-cracy dedicated to the task of uprating his pension for the duration of his visit to the UK from Australia. “How much is that costing?!” he pondered, calling for change before the situation gets worse as the number of people leaving the UK to retire home to the Caribbean and the Indian sub-continent continues to grow.

A win for oneCABP members may be interested in reading about the AUD$100,000 pension windfall BPiA helped gain for one 87-year-old in Australia: www.thesenior.com.au/financial/pension-win-a-feather-in-groups-cap-but-more-to-do/

We take our victories where we find them!

Her Majesty signs the Commonwealth Charter of Rights which includes the ‘Core Value’ of unbending opposition to all forms of discrimination.

by Jim Tilley, Hon Chairman, British Pensions in Australia

The view fromThe view from Down Under Down Under

http://www.thesenior.com.au/financial/pension-win-a-feather-in-groups-cap-but-more-to-do/



JUSTICE #4, 2017 - 7

When did you last see your father? by Margaret Wells

Now that I have your attention, let’s get to the real question.

When was the last time you handed someone a CABP business card or brochure? When did you last put up one of our colourful posters somewhere in your community? Bottom line: When did you last enrol a new member?

I am here to ask every CABP member to follow through with at least one of these actions, if not all, because the natu-ral high attrition rate among our mem-bers’ age group means that support for the political campaign in the UK is in se-

rious jeopardy. Ensuring its continuation requires our collective effort. That’s why CABP’s new chairman, Ian Andexser, has cajoled me out of retirement and into helping co-ordinate members across Canada in the essential art of increasing our numbers.

PLEASE tell me you are willing to do your bit. Ian himself has stepped up to the plate at short notice to lead our alliance, and Sheila Telford recently did the same thing for our consortium, increasing her already-exhaustive duties. Surely if these committed people are prepared to take on additional responsibilities on our behalf, then it is incumbent on each one of us to do at least a little bit to help ourselves.

Email me directly at [email protected], or phone CABP’s office at 416-253-6402 / toll-free 1-888-591-3964. I will happily send you business cards and brochures to give to people you meet, or materials—such as our brand new poster—for placing in local establish-

ments that agree to promote us (see Fish & chips with a side order of pension rights elsewhere in these pages).

I’ll be waiting to hear from you.Meanwhile, please make use of the

business cards and the new poster pro-moting CABP that are provided in this magazine—yours for the clipping.

Attention SK, AB, NLIf you live in Saskatchewan, Alberta or Newfoundland and are able to serve as CABP’s “go to” person for frozen pensioners in your province—always with the help and support of our national office—then we want to hear from you. It is far from being a time-consuming or onerous activity.To offer your help, please contact Margaret Wells at [email protected] or phone the office (416-253-6402 or 1-888-591-3964).

Margaret displays our old poster at CABP’s AGM.

Canadian Government Report by Stephen Willetts, CABP Director

Prior to UK PM Theresa May’s visit to Canada in September, we briefed senior federal officials in Ottawa regarding

the powerful opportunity that lies in Britain’s desire for a new trade deal with Canada. It provides the Canadian Government with ex-cellent leverage for securing annual upratings for British pensioners living here—something Canada has been requesting from the UK for many decades.

We emphasized the fact that Britain recently committed to uprate pensions in EU countries following Brexit, in spite of having no legal obligation to do so, and yet still refuses to even consider doing the same thing in Canada.

We continue lobbying Ottawa and meeting with the officials who are responsible for briefing the Prime Minister’s Office on this issue.

Meanwhile, thanks to the creativity of John Duffy of Antigua, the speech bubbles in the photo above say what all of us are thinking.

THERESA: “Now, Justin, about this trade deal. You know that Canada is one of Britain’s oldest allies….”

JUSTIN: “Well, Theresa, you do surprise me. We have 150,000 British pensioners living in Canada whose pensions you have frozen and they rely on Canada for their welfare. You are prepared to uprate British pensions in Europe after Brexit but not here or in other parts of the Commonwealth. If you want our help, don’t you think you should start by offering equal treatment to British pensioners living in Canada?”

Members make good use of Theresa May’s Ottawa visit

Many thanks to CABP members Ena Spalding and John Bargman of Calgary for their letter to the Calgary Herald drawing attention to the fact that Canada should insist the UK treat pensioners living in Canada fairly before any new bilateral trade deal can be finalized.

Many thanks also to Gillian Ivers of Ottawa, a veteran of the British Armed Forces, for detailing the effect pension freezing has had on her life in a passionate letter to PM Justin Trudeau when he met with Theresa May. “It has been a struggle surviving over the years…there has been many times I haven’t had enough to pay rent or buy food,” she wrote. “I feel that I am being punished by (the UK).”

Such letters are a powerful tool in our campaign arsenal.

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8 - JUSTICE #4, 2017

CABP’s office volunteers share their pet peeves about incoming mail

• Membership cheques stapled or taped to the renewal/application form

It can be difficult to remove the staple or tape without tearing the cheque. Such security is unnecessary since the Post Office, while expert at losing whole letters, is very inefficient at removing cheques from inside envelopes.

• Renewal cheques that come in on their own without the renewal form or at least the membership number

This means we have to fill out a form ourselves. Otherwise, once the cheque has been deposited, we have no physical record of the member’s payment.

• Envelopes that are sealed with tape that goes right across the top

It is impossible to open such an envelope without using scissors and risking cutting through the contents. Again, theft from envelopes is rare these days.

• Envelopes missing a return name and address We sort incoming mail by the senders’ last names, so having at least a name on the envelope is very helpful.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS to the Board of Directors

CABP by-law 6.04 requires that at least 90 days prior to the Annual Meeting of the corporation, the Corporation shall invite all Members to submit

to it the names of persons whom they wish to be consid-ered for election to the Board. Notice is hereby given that nominations must arrive at the CABP national office no later than April 5, 2018. Candidates must be members of CABP for at least 90 days prior to May 31, 2018.

All nominations shall be in writing and shall be accom-panied by: (a) The name, age and contact information of the person; (b) a biographical outline of the individual; and (c) the consent of the nominee to stand for election, and must be forwarded to:

Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners 202–4800 Dundas Street West

Toronto, ON M9A 1B1

CLIP AND DISPLAY

CLIP AND DISPLAY Please cut out or print the

poster on p.9 and pin it on a notice board in your community. Let us know

where you place it!

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Galling inequityICBP Chairman Sheila Telford was quoted by journalist Tanya Jefferies in the Daily Mail on 5 September 2017:

“The horror with which the prospect of a frozen pension for EU-resident expats has been recognised is somewhat galling for those already in receipt of one.

“The government’s clarity of intention for those in the EU only highlights the inequity of the situation for those living elsewhere, particularly for those of us in the Commonwealth who have just as strong continuing ties to the UK.

“Why uprate them and not us?”

Sign hereThere are two petitions currently on the Government’s petition website that may be of interest to CABP members. They both remain open for signing until 12 March 2018.

The first one requests votes for life for all British citizens, and an MP in Westminster dedicated to those living overseas: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200005.

The second petition calls on the Government to hold a referendum on the final Brexit deal negotiated between the UK and the EU: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200004.

Sign here

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200005




JUSTICE #4, 2017 - 9

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JUSTICE #4, 2017 - 11

A pre-pensioner keeps faith in Colombia

by Philip Sale, CABP Membership #32699

On my retirement from the UK police in July 2006 at the grand old age of 48, I moved to Spain and it was whilst living there and

researching my pension rights that I first came across CABP and ICBP. It was also the first time I had

heard of frozen pensions and though it would not affect me in Spain I couldn’t believe that this information had not been readily available in the UK.

When I moved to Colombia in 2012 at the age of 54, I did so with open eyes. I was retired, divorced, with no children and in the fortu-nate position of receiving a full police pension that would be uprated no matter where I lived. My Colombian visa did not permit me to work at first, so my only source of income was (and still is) my police pension, however the cost of living in Colombia compared with the UK or Spain is so low that, even with the fluctuating exchange rate, I am able to live a comfortable life.

That then begs the question, why do I have any interest in actively lobbying for my state pension rights? The answer is simple: I paid for it for thirty-two years, the maximum number of years required at that time to get a full pension.

(Later, of course, I had that rug pulled from under my feet when the regulations were changed and I was informed that unless I paid in more money I would receive only a reduced pension. I still can’t see the justice in that. However, with no guarantee that pension freezing would end before I reach state pension age in 2024, I see no sense in throwing good money after bad.)

Pension freezing is an important issue, especially for those who have been frozen for decades. I can’t imagine having to rely on family and friends just to survive, and no one should be forced into that position in old age. That is why I became a member of CABP when I moved to Colombia.

Lately, I had been having second thoughts about my membership as everything I read from CABP seems to be about Canada, Australia and Commonwealth countries, with no reference to… well, us (Colombia is a country with a relatively small number of British expats). Sheila Telford took the time to reply to me and gave me food for thought. I just have to convince myself that when these larger countries receive their uprating, the rest of us indeed won’t get left behind.

CABP and ICBP keep bashing their proverbial heads against the proverbial brick wall on our behalf. Their persistence is amazing—my own little bit of letter writing to MPs seems totally insignificant by comparison. However I will continue sending those letters, even when I get no replies, as doing something feels so much better than doing nothing.

There are 12 million UK state pensioners, all of whom contributed

similarly to the pension scheme via compulsory National Insurance

Contributions.•

Of the 12 million, just over one million live outside the UK.

• Half of the pensioners living overseas receive the same annual cost-of-living increases as those still living in the UK,

while the other half does not – their pensions are frozen simply because of where they have chosen to reside in

their retirement.•

Commonwealth nations and British overseas territories are home to 98 per

cent of “frozen” pensioners.•

There are 147,000 in Canada plus 247,000 expats who are heading

towards pension age.

THE ISSUEAT A GLANCETHE ISSUEAT A GLANCE

12 - JUSTICE #4, 2017

Letters to the Editor should be sent to the National Office or to: [email protected].

The Editor reserves the right to edit letters for clarity or length.

HAVING YOUR SAY…

CABP gives high return on investmentI’m a new member of CABP—and boy, am I glad I joined early this year! I’ve saved the cost of the modest membership fee more than 300 times over already. If I hadn’t seen the ‘My CAPB’ booklet that comes with membership, I likely would never have known that under today’s rules I could (as someone who reached pensionable age after 5 April 2016) apply to make up to ten years of backdated voluntary contributions at the Class 2 level instead of the much higher Class 3. Also, by deferring receipt of my pen-sion to age 70, I can increase the weekly amount. Needless to say, I will be renewing my CABP membership annually from now on and spreading the word about CABP.

Joe SimpsonMembership #33492, Duncan, BC

A good cuppaI hope Brexit and its effect on British expatriates in the EU also has a good effect on us beleaguered souls in the New World. Keep up the good work. Cuando hay té, hay esperanza.

Stan MarrowEastern Townships, Quebec.

Double taxation a no-noI receive a small work pension and a small frozen state pension from England. I declare both amounts on my annual income tax return here in Canada. I have received an “advice of payment” notice from England saying that I owe income tax on my work pension. Is it right that I am to pay tax twice?

Jennifer WilkieMembership #26580, Owen Sound, Ontario

CABP’s volunteer pension guru responds:

According to the double taxation agreement between Canada and the UK, pensions paid to a Canadian resident are not taxable in the UK, only in Canada. Annuity payments that are not part of a pension plan are taxable in the UK at a rate not exceeding 10%, and this tax would be deductable from any Canadian tax due on the pay-ments. Please see Article 17 of the agreement at this link: www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/UK_-eng.asp Also, the personal allowance in the UK is £11,500, so that amount of UK income is free of UK tax anyway. – Peter Wells

Key contact info re your

state pensionWhen to contact the

International Pension Centre• For temporary increase when visiting UK

or other unfrozen country (except USA and Bermuda)

• For notifying pension authorities of the death of a UK pensioner

• For returning completed Life Certificates

011-44-191-218-7777 From within UK: 0191-218-7777

The Pension Service 11Mail Handling Site A Wolverhampton, WV98 1LW England

When to contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

• To find your National Insurance number

• To apply to make extra NI contributions

011-44-191-203-7010

HM Revenue & CustomsNational Insurance Contributions and Employer Office National Insurance RegistrationsBenton Park View, NE98 1ZZEngland

When to contact the Future Pension Centre

• To get a pension statement

011-44-191-218-3600

Future Pension CentreThe Pension Service 9Mail Handling Site AWolverhampton, WV98 1LUEngland

Key contact info re your

state pension

http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/UK_-eng.asp

http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/UK_-eng.asp

JUSTICE #4, 2017 - 13

Business cards to grow our campaignPLEASE CLIP AND HAND OUT

14 - JUSTICE #4, 2017

Business cards to grow our campaignPLEASE CLIP AND HAND OUT

JUSTICE #4, 2017 - 15

CABP MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION OR RENEWALClip and mail this form OR join/renew online www.britishpensions.com/joinrenew/ OR by phone 1-888-591-3964

PLEASE PRINT

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Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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PLEASE CHECK 4 m New Member(s) OR m Renewing Member(s) ~ Membership # (if known): ________________________________

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PLEASE CLIP FORM WHERE INDICATED & MAIL WITH YOUR CHEQUE OR MONEY ORDER TO:Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners, 202–4800 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M9A 1B1

In the interests of economy, receipts will not be mailed. We are most grateful for all support, particularly donations to the Action Fund.

Canadian Resident Annual Fee ($25):

Non-Resident Fee: $40 CAD, includes paper Justice OR $25 CAD, includes e-Justice

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FOR CABP OFFICE USE ONLY Auth. #: Date:

To read JUSTICE ONLINE (instead of in hard copy)Request from: [email protected]

Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) is a UK-based organ-isation that campaigns against the way in which women’s state pension age was equalized with men’s, i.e., with little or no personal notice to

affected women, faster than first promised, and giving no time for making alter-native plans. They are calling for the millions of women impacted—those born between April 1950 and April 1960—to receive financial compensation.

This translates into a ‘bridging’ pension to provide an income until the new state pension age is reached, and compensation for losses experienced by those who have already reached state pension age.

WASPI offers template letters for women to voice their complaint—and adding a protest regarding pension freezing at the same time would be very appropriate.

For more information, visit the WASPI website: www.waspi.co.uk/.

WASPI women born in the ’50s

16 - JUSTICE #4, 2017

Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP)202 - 4800 Dundas Street West

Toronto M9A 1B1 CanadaPUBLICATION MAIL

AGREEMENT NUMBER 40010836

In memory of the

many who die

while waiting for

their pension to

be indexed, CABP

observes one minute

of silence before

each meeting.

YOU GET ALL THIS FOR $25Membership in CABP buys you…• Top-rated PR campaign in the UK • The energy and support of an international consortium of pensioners• Advice on dealing with the Dept for Work & Pensions (through CABP’s office)• Four magazines a year to keep you informed

Join or renew now!

MEMBERSHIP UP-TO-DATE?Check the Expiry date below and KEEP UP YOUR SUPPORT for global pension justice.

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COAST-to-COASTin JUSTICE

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Malcolm Campbell

[email protected]

416-253-6402

1-888-591-3964

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Please use application form inside back cover OR Join/renew online at www.britishpensions.com/joinrenew/ OR Phone 1-888-591-3964

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mission in London. INSIDE · Tel: 905-450-9028 • Email: [email protected] Orillia/Barrie: Alan...

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