Member emails 2012

Latest Letter to Members

Thank you for your  ongoing support of CABP in our fight for pension parity.

This image of one of our members, a veteran, has been sent to all British and Canadian politicians informing them of the injustice of frozen pensions and how it  affects real people.

Please feel free to forward it to family and friends in the UK to make them aware of how important it is that the gross injustice of frozen pensions is redressed.

 

Lest We Forget

Season’s Greetings and
Best Wishes for the New Year

 Across the world, hundreds of thousands of British state pensioners are being discriminated against simply because they retire to the ‘wrong’ country – the majority of which are Commonwealth countries.

These pensioners have their pensions ‘frozen’ by the British Government at exactly the same level as when they first retired abroad. Some are surviving on a full pension of as little as £6 a week whereas the full pension today is £107 a week.

A British state pensioner in Canada is “frozen”; across the border in the USA that pension would be fully paid,

i.e. £6 per week in Canada becomes £107 a week in the USA.

In Canada, 158,000 people are affected by this freezing of their British state pensions. The number is increasing every year and the cost to the Canadian economy is estimated to be over $350 million a year.

The Canadian Government supports us in our campaign to have this injustice removed.

Will YOU work with us in 2013 to achieve Pension Parity?

chairman@britishpensions.com

With best wishes

Sheila Telford   CABP Chairman

Dear  Member,                        Membership # xxxxx    ON       Subscription Status 2012

Over the next few months there are a number of upcoming CABP Meetings and Events in ONTARIO that we are sure, if you are in the area, you would be interested in attending.

 ALL are welcome, and are encouraged to spread the word to those interested, who are in the area.

Please bring along anyone you know who has worked in the UK, even if NOT of pension age. They may NOT know their entitlement to a UK Basic State Pension (BSP), or that it will NOT be indexed each year, because they live in Canada.

We are hoping to target this younger demographic as we can usually help them to maximise their BSP. However, CABP has one primary goal, to achieve PENSION PARITY for ALL those entitled to a BSP, wherever they chose to live in the WORLD!

Publicity for these Open Meetings is always an essential element for success, so please use the attached BUS & Meeting Posters, which perhaps you would print and display for us, if you live in the area.

If you have difficulties opening the attachments, please find and click-on POSTERS. The best places for the posters are libraries, shopping centres, cafes and churches.

Best Regards,

CABP News

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Dear  Member,                                        Membership #  xxxxx       Subscription Status 2012

 The following guidelines are intended as the basis for a personal letter from you, to Her Majesty the Queen, on the occasion of Her Diamond Jubilee.

This is an initiative of The International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP), as a follow-up to the letter just sent by the Chairman of the ICBP, which is also shown below these guidelines.

 “Your Majesty I am writing to you on the occasion of your Diamond Jubilee to draw your attention to the plight of 548,000 UK expat pensioners around the world, who have their Basic State Pension frozen for no better reason than where they reside, the majority of these countries being Commonwealth countries. Many of these pensioners fought in the last war on behalf of your father King George VI and the Country. Many of these individuals now only receive some 25% of the current UK pension and are living in conditions of poverty. The Country seems to have forgotten the debt that is owed to these veterans. May I petition your Majesty to ask your Government to provide Pension Parity to all on the occasion of your Diamond Jubilee as a mark of respect for their contribution to the Country in the past.”

Letters to the Queen need to be addressed:

Her Majesty The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA ENGLAND

Note that the Queen does not have an email address, and whatever you write can also be copied, at a later date, to the present MP in your old constituency in the UK.

This letter to the Queen was dated 23 March 2012:

Madam

As Chairman of the International Consortium of British Pensioners may I offer you our loyal and heartiest greetings on the occasion of Your Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.

As I am sure you are aware many of your loyal subjects who reside abroad have their Basic State Pension frozen by Your Majesty’s Government.  Many of these individuals, now over the age of 85 years, fought for Crown and country when your father was on the throne so that today’s citizens could enjoy the freedom that they now do. Many of the pensioners affected are Commonwealth citizens who came to the United Kingdom’s aid in its time of need. You will doubtless recall that in December 2010 we provided you a bound copy of our book, “Broken Faith”, which records the history of 107 such pensioners who fought for their country both during and after the Second World War.

Your Majesty, whilst not all of the more than half a million pensioners affected are service veterans, they are all people who contributed to the life and health of Great Britain during their working years, just like the other half million plus living overseas whose pensions are not frozen.  Now, in their old age, they find that they are abandoned solely because of where they have decided to live in their retirement years.  You may be surprised to learn that more than ninety five percent of those whose pensions are frozen live in Commonwealth countries. Surely you would agree that such a disparate policy hardly fits into Great Britain’s reputation for equality and fairness for all, a policy which is so often trumpeted by Your Majesty’s Government.  Nor does it meet the intent of the the CHOGM declarations of Singapore 1971 and Harare 1991which called for all Commonwealth nations to, “… use all our efforts to foster equality and dignity everywhere”.

On behalf of the International Consortium of British Pensioners, we pray that during this year of great celebration of Your Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, you will request your Government to provide pension parity for all British Pensioners living overseas in their retirement years, regardless of where they have chosen to live.

I have the honour to be, Madam,

Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant.

Anthony Bockman

Chairman, International Consortium of British Pensioners