I'm sure it was repeated in the thread, but its actually not a pension plan. There isn't actually a pension fund. Its a benefit, so the argument is its a concession that expatriates receive anything. The rights to a state pension is based on how many years you have worked for or had NI credited, not how much you have put into it. Many will have put a lot more in as National Insurance, but will get the same as someone, theoretically, who has been on the dole all their life. The Philippines Treaty was brought by Manila, as a reflection of the number of Filipinos working in the UK. Upgrades to pensions in the UK reflect changes in the cost of living in the UK, not the costs of living in, say, Thailand. Do you think UK pensioners living in Thailand should get a winter fuel allowance? It would be absurd. The way the scheme was set up is why it has become unaffordable for the nation (why the pension age is creeping up, I will get it when I'm 69, yet I'm unlikely to live any longer than the current crop of old buggers. They got 15 years out of their state pension, I'll be lucky to get 10). National Insurance is used to pay current pensioners. I have to depend on the largesse of future taxpayers, who might still be at school, to look after me.
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