Boris Johnson 'needs to step up for British expats' says expert

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And many have questioned why people not living in Britain should be permitted to vote in Westminster elections in the first place. The row has erupted after the Campaign to End Frozen Pensions claimed more than 500,000 British expats have seen their payments frozen at the level they were at when they left the UK, or when they retired if already living abroad.

So why should tax payers pay for those no longer living here?

Express.co.uk reader

A survey of 2,400 pensioners carried out by the organisation suggested nine in ten would either not vote, or were unlikely to vote, for a party which did not commit to unfreezing pensions, with 93 percent saying they would back any party which did.

However, their demands failed to cut much ice with readers, many of whom thought their arguments were fundamentally flawed.

One said: “They don’t live in this country anymore, they support foreign economies.

“They get the rate they paid in for. Rises are paid by those working now in the UK. So why should tax payers pay for those no longer living here?”

Another added: “Do not forget that most pensioners still pay tax here in the uk but those ex pats pay nothing.”

A third suggested the freeze was inevitable in the circumstances, explaining: “They went overseas well knowing that if they did their pensions would be frozen. Their choice.”

Similarly, another observed: “Expats add nothing to the UK economy so it sounds reasonable that it isn’t index linked.”

Express.co.uk reader Terry Hughes commented: “This has always been so. Members of my family have lived abroad for decades and went to live there knowing that their pensions would be frozen. You can’t blackmail a government knowing it was your choice.”

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Another suggested the Prime Minister needed to show his ruthless streak, saying: “They left the uk, so nope, Boris stand your ground.”

Others questioned on what basis expats should expect a have a say in UK politics in the first place.

One reader posted: “I must confess to being puzzled as to why people who choose to live elsewhere should be given the right to vote in UK elections?”

Another said: “They shouldn’t be allowed to vote in an election anyway.

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“The Scots living in England won’t be allowed a vote in independence referendum.”

However, not everybody was unsympathetic.

Rick Smith said: “If you’ve put into the pension pot all your life why should you not get pension increases if you move abroad like everyone else. You actually cost the country less not being here.

“Bullying and ripping off old folk if you ask me. Sort it out Boris.”

Another reader added: “If these people worked all their lives they should get the pension they are entitled to and not robbed for where they choose to retire to…more daylight robbery.”

Speaking yesterday, John Duffy, chairman of the International Consortium of British Pensioners said: “It is indefensible that successive governments have continued the callous and cruel frozen pensions policy which denies hundreds of thousands of pensioners the retirement they earned and deserve.

“This makes clear that frozen pensioners will make our voice heard when we are given the right to vote.

“We will not vote for any party that refuses to end the disgrace that sees frozen pensioners treated as second class citizens.”

Meanwhile, former Conservative pensions minister Baroness Altmann, urged the Government to reconsider the frozen pensions policy, explaining: “If they moved back to the UK, they would have their pensions increased each year and there is certainly a moral and fiscal case that they should not suffer such losses while living overseas.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “The Government’s policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one of more than 70 years and we continue to up-rate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so.

“We understand that people move abroad for many reasons and that this can impact on their finances.

“There is information on GOV.UK about what the effect of going abroad will be on entitlement to the UK State Pension.”

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