UK pensions

[Expattaff1308]

International Consortium of British Pensioners

Dear ICBP Supporter,   As you are aware we are stepping up our campaign to get the government to change its policy on frozen pensions.  To this end our London PR people have set up a Facebook page and is asking that as many of you as possible 'like' the page and pass it onto your 'friends'.  You have to subscribe to Facebook in order to use this link - click here - https://bit.ly/2MNnJ2I  We need as much publicity as possible and it is only by actively engaging with all that our PR agency are doing that we will succeed in raising the profile to a point where we can force the government into doing something. If you haven't already done so, please add your name to the petition and write to the Prime Minister or your MP from our new website - https://endfrozenpensions.org  Pass it on to family, friends

[vogie]

26 minutes ago, Expattaff1308 said:

International Consortium of British Pensioners

Dear ICBP Supporter,   As you are aware we are stepping up our campaign to get the government to change its policy on frozen pensions.  To this end our London PR people have set up a Facebook page and is asking that as many of you as possible 'like' the page and pass it onto your 'friends'.  You have to subscribe to Facebook in order to use this link - click here - https://bit.ly/2MNnJ2I  We need as much publicity as possible and it is only by actively engaging with all that our PR agency are doing that we will succeed in raising the profile to a point where we can force the government into doing something. If you haven't already done so, please add your name to the petition and write to the Prime Minister or your MP from our new website - https://endfrozenpensions.org  Pass it on to family, friends

Thanks for your post taff, have mailed the PM. Do you know the F/B page in english as when I click on the F/B link it comes up in Thai?

[DILLIGAD]

I agree, but it's not just the "single childless worker pays most into this scam".
 
Married, both working in PAYE jobs, but without children, are also in the same 'bracket'. - i.e. subsidising most of the population.
 
Not that it matters much, as (on the whole) I've never had a problem with subsidising those in the country less fortunate than myself.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Expattaff1308]

3 hours ago, vogie said:

Thanks for your post taff, have mailed the PM. Do you know the F/B page in english as when I click on the F/B link it comes up in Thai?

Strange mine comes up in English....Try this https://www.facebook.com/endfrozenpensions/?__tn__=HHH-R

[transam]

6 minutes ago, Expattaff1308 said:

Strange mine comes up in English....Try this https://www.facebook.com/endfrozenpensions/?__tn__=HHH-R

That comes up in Thai..Right click the link, "copy", open FB and paste in the search box, it comes up in English...

[Expattaff1308]

1 hour ago, transam said:

That comes up in Thai..Right click the link, "copy", open FB and paste in the search box, it comes up in English...

Strange, still comes up in English in mine!

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Expattaff1308 said:

Strange, still comes up in English in mine!

User PC system set up perhaps...☺️

[ubonjoe]

2 hours ago, transam said:

User PC system set up perhaps...☺️

Or they are signed in on Facebook already or perhaps have a cookie for Facebook that sets the language to English.

I was and it came up in English.

[nong38]

Date for the diary. Budget day is October 29th.

[billd766]

I got this today from the ICBP.

 

Dear ICBP Supporter,   I know that only a couple of weeks ago we asked you all to sign up to the petition on our new website - https://endfrozenpensions.org and also, for those on Facebook to like and share our Facebook page - https://bit.ly/2MNnJ2I and we still want you to do this if you haven’t already done so. However, something very important has happened.  You will all have read about our ‘poster girl’, Anne Puckeridge, the decorated WW2 veteran who moved to Canada and is now a frozen pensioner.  We will be taking Anne to the U.K. together with one of the Windward generation, Monica Philip, who, after 38 years of working in the U.K., returned to the Caribbean to look after her ailing mother.  She is also a frozen pensioner.  We will be introducing these two ladies to MPs and they will be asking for a face to face explanation of why their pensions are frozen. What is so important is that Anne’s daughter who lives in Mexico, decided to start a petition of her own with Change .org in support of her mother .  It was not something we could do as the rules of Change. org prevents interested parties petitioning on their own behalf. Below appears a comment from our PR people in London when they were told of Anne’s daughter’s petition The ‘magic’ bit is that as I have a working relationship with them, they (Change .org) will actually email out (and send across social networks too) to their millions of community members.  If they react positively, they will keep boosting it.  Alfie’s Dingley’s petition on Change .org hit 750,000.  The next bit of ‘magic’ is that we (me) can then send a message asking those people on Change. org to click through to our site to use the email your MP function.  This is a golden opportunity.   Therefore, we are asking you again to click on a link and sign up.  After a few criticisms about the Facebook link, I have made this latest link smaller and more understandable - https://tinyurl.com/ChangePetitionICBP  If anyone is unable to open it please let me know and I will send the link directly to you. As our PR agency say, this is a golden opportunity which, added to the money we have just committed to boosting Facebook in the month leading up to our face to face meetings with MPs in London, plus several other initiatives we are working on, there is a real possibility that we might make some progress. Please fire up your computers, open your tablets or whatever other device you may have and click on the link. John J Duffy - Chairman, International Consortium of British Pensioners

[NoshowJones]

On 9/13/2018 at 3:07 PM, p414 said:

the National insurance was/ is a huge scam.The single childless worker pays most into this scam.The mandarins also cleverly wrote it to make you believe you pay less into it than you actually do..'The 'employers contribution'..would have worked for the first year of the scam..After this all employers would take this 'contribution' into account when working out the salary for any.every job..He would also show this 'contribution' to the trade unions seeking higher wages..

I was born 1944 and had to pay 44 years of national insurance..Most of the time I was an employee but had to pay some further years voluntarily to qualify for full sate pension..The courts of Europe decided that my pension is a government benefit.

They can brush it up anyway they like, it is an entitlement which has been paid for. End of story.

[billd766]

I got this in my email this morning.

 

If you haven't signed the petition yet please do so asap.

 

Dear ICBP Supporter,
 
Our PR people in London are arranging for us to visit 10 Downing Street to deliver our petition and to deliver personal letters to Theresa May, one from Anne Puckeridge, our veteran from Canada, and one from our Windrush pensioner, Monika Philip, both of whom will be accompanying us to London at the end of the month.

Today I was told that our https://endfrozenpensions.org petition hit 5,000.  That is great and thank you for all your support but we need to get it to at least 10,000 by the time we reach Downing Street, preferably more and the only way we are going to do that is with your help.  You need to contact all your friends and family and ask them to not only sign but also persuade them to send it to all their friends particularly in the U.K.. It is in the U.K. where it will be most effective because U.K. residents can also write to their MP from the website once they have signed the petition.

The other petition is steadily growing - I just checked and it has hit 2,495 so by the time you receive this, it should be over 2,500. It is hoped that Change.org will give it a boost which is something they do when they see a petition is popular so, anyone who hasn’t signed, please do so and, again, ask friends and family to help.

I know all this is a bit of a pain but we have our best chance in a long time to get a reversal of this iniquitous policy and it’s only a few minutes of anyone's time, please just click on the two links above.

John J Duffy - Chairman, International Consortium of British Pensioners

[p414]

I well remember when the donut was introduced to Princess Anne..'Call me cherie' she piped....'I prefer Mrs Blair' was the great lady's response

[Henryford]

I get some comfort from knowing that B'Liar was punished by having to live with this harridan.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

I get some comfort from knowing that B'Liar was punished by having to live with this harridan.

 

In every silver lining there is always a dark cloud. 

[Expattaff1308]

Dear ICBP Supporter, In less than 24 hours the number of signatures on Change. org petition went from 5,000 to nearly 100,000 and it is still going strong.  Thank you to everyone who signed and passed it on.  If you haven’t signed yet, please do so now. You can click on the links above and below to get to each petition. We will now be asking all these signatories to also sign our endfrozenpensions petition and write to the Prime Minister or their MP.  Imagine the impact on MPs and the PM of up to 100,000 letters. We have also added a new tab to our endfrozenpensions petition.  Scroll down to the bottom of the HOME page and you will see that it is now possible to write to the Prime Minister or your MP without signing the petition. Please keep up the good work and keep sharing it. Thank you. John J Duffy - Chairman. International Consortium of British Pensioners

[billd766]

6 hours ago, Expattaff1308 said:

Dear ICBP Supporter, In less than 24 hours the number of signatures on Change. org petition went from 5,000 to nearly 100,000 and it is still going strong.  Thank you to everyone who signed and passed it on.  If you haven’t signed yet, please do so now. You can click on the links above and below to get to each petition. We will now be asking all these signatories to also sign our endfrozenpensions petition and write to the Prime Minister or their MP.  Imagine the impact on MPs and the PM of up to 100,000 letters. We have also added a new tab to our endfrozenpensions petition.  Scroll down to the bottom of the HOME page and you will see that it is now possible to write to the Prime Minister or your MP without signing the petition. Please keep up the good work and keep sharing it. Thank you. John J Duffy - Chairman. International Consortium of British Pensioners

Bugger. You beat me to it this morning.

 

Thanks.

[evadgib]

Of interest to this board:

British Embassy Bangkok to stop Certification of Income Letters

From 1 January 2019, the British Embassy Bangkok will no longer be providing British Nationals with letters confirming their income.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/british-embassy-bangkok-to-stop-certification-of-income-letters

[dabhand]

Another Guardian article on frozen state pensions, this with reference to the recently raised petition,

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/oct/13/frozen-state-pensions-petition

 

Some of the early responses contain the usual 'you made your bed.....' type comments. Despite the continuing publicity on the subject highly unlikely to gain any traction with the Brexit financial uncertainties to the fore. The red herring of reciprocity will also continue as the backstop of past, current and future governments, even were the UK to be in rude good health. 

[Expattaff1308]

Dear ICBP Supporter,

The well respected British newspaper, the Guardian, has today published an article condemning frozen pensions.  To read it click here.  In case the link does not work for some people, the full link is published below.

We are still expecting one of the other major U.K. newspapers to start campaigning on our behalf.

The Change .org petition has now reached over 180,000 signatures.  If you haven’t yet signed it, please do so and chase your family and friends to do so as well.  Circulate it by social media, like, share or whatever else one does on these sites to get the message out there.  It would be great to get a quarter of a million signatures.  Click here to see the website.

Remember, as good as the petitions are, letters to U.K. MPs and the Prime Minister are even more effective.  You can write to them on our End Frozen Pensions website.  Click here to enter the website then scroll down to the bottom of the HOME page and click on the tab E-mail your MP or the U.K. Prime Minister.  When you are asked to insert your post code, if you don’t have a U.K. post code, ignore it and click on the tab Find your MP and you will be taken to the letter to send to the Prime Minister.  There is a standard letter which you can change if you wish.

We are on a march, come and march with us.

John J Duffy - Chairman, International Consortium of British Pensioners

[evadgib]

Arrse are following this too, as are sympathetic members of several police forces and families in UK including the Met.

[evadgib]

From yesterday's FT:

https://www.ftadviser.com/pensions/2018/10/16/thousands-sign-pensions-petition/

[dabhand]

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

From yesterday's FT:

https://www.ftadviser.com/pensions/2018/10/16/thousands-sign-pensions-petition/

The 'financial advisor' of Obsidian, quoted in the FT article, is not someone I would want to advise on the investment strategy connected to the contents of a piggy bank containing anything more than 50p. Her one-sided view is hardly a good advert for her company. To be avoided, at all costs, I would say.

 

On the other hand, the comments of 'The Retiree' are completely on point and well stated. Yes, I do have bias in this argument but, my word, I am stunned that the FT did not challenge her lopsided view.   

[nong38]

The inflation figure for September was 2.4% that is what you get as an increase in April or not as the case might be.

An interesting chat on Sky News yesterday ( or was it Tuesday ?) when you think we argue about 500m quid to uprate our pensions the UK annual spend is 890 billion. 500m against 890B is peanuts yet they cannot afford it! Makes you wonder where the money goes does it not? Wages, bonus's and expenses is my guess, sad do.

[Expattaff1308]

13 hours ago, nong38 said:

The inflation figure for September was 2.4% that is what you get as an increase in April or not as the case might be.

An interesting chat on Sky News yesterday ( or was it Tuesday ?) when you think we argue about 500m quid to uprate our pensions the UK annual spend is 890 billion. 500m against 890B is peanuts yet they cannot afford it! Makes you wonder where the money goes does it not? Wages, bonus's and expenses is my guess, sad do.

When you read headlines like this you do question their priorities....

OUTRAGE erupted yesterday as it emerged the Government has spent nearly £4 billion of foreign aid money on improving roads and railways around the world – including projects in Pakistan and India.

With figures like that being sent abroad 500m to ease the burden on tax paying pensioners is a drop in the ocean.

[bert bloggs]

I see that the govt are going to have to pay back dated money owed to disabled people ,about 5k each due to underpayment , so there goes any rises for us .

[DILLIGAD]

When you read headlines like this you do question their priorities....
OUTRAGE erupted yesterday as it emerged the Government has spent nearly £4 billion of foreign aid money on improving roads and railways around the world – including projects in Pakistan and India.
With figures like that being sent abroad 500m to ease the burden on tax paying pensioners is a drop in the ocean.

Yeah, that makes sense, sending money to countries with their own space program!!
Call me old-fashioned but I still believe ‘charity starts at home’


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nong38]

Make the note in your diaries UK Budget is Monday October 29th, GMT resumes on the 28th so 7 hours difference for a probable GMT start at 1200. Having just returned from the UK the rumour is that people who are in a private pension scheme might be taking a hit, also that people working past pension age will be asked to contribute to the NI scheme and for those who are abusing the "free prescriptions for the over 60's it is currently being looked at very closely and I can understand why with the NHS being underfunded I have heard stories both here and in the UK of people having multiple monthly free prescriptions being collected and forwarded around the globe.

[dick dasterdly]

On 10/7/2018 at 11:46 PM, Expattaff1308 said:

Dear ICBP Supporter, In less than 24 hours the number of signatures on Change. org petition went from 5,000 to nearly 100,000 and it is still going strong.  Thank you to everyone who signed and passed it on.  If you haven’t signed yet, please do so now. You can click on the links above and below to get to each petition. We will now be asking all these signatories to also sign our endfrozenpensions petition and write to the Prime Minister or their MP.  Imagine the impact on MPs and the PM of up to 100,000 letters. We have also added a new tab to our endfrozenpensions petition.  Scroll down to the bottom of the HOME page and you will see that it is now possible to write to the Prime Minister or your MP without signing the petition. Please keep up the good work and keep sharing it. Thank you. John J Duffy - Chairman. International Consortium of British Pensioners

Do you have a direct link to the petition?

[Expattaff1308]

1 hour ago, dick dasterdly said:

Do you have a direct link to the petition?

http:// endfrozenpensions petition.