The Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) is a long-established group of volunteers, set up to fight for the indexation of the pensions of UK Pension recipients living in Canada. The rights of this indexation case are very well known and documented, ALL the good is on our side and everyone but the British Government says so.
As a former main Board Director and In support of their decades-long fight for pensions indexation, I attended the legal proceedings in the House of Lords in 2005 and with Peter, as expert Pensions witnesses, we attended the September 2009 Hearing at the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Alas, the verdict in each case was negative.
Replying to a Judge’s question in Strasbourg, we heard the HMG QC state that for indexation to succeed with a no arrears/pension increase-only decision, the Exchequer would have to pay out an index-linked 440 million pounds every year.
In the hardball economics of the UK, for David Cameron and his likely successor, George Osborne, to give 440 million pounds pa to people who are currently unable to vote for him may be a very tough fight for right to prevail.
Of course, due to the inevitable spread of votes from abroad to their old UK constituencies, the promised “Votes for Life” Bill will not benefit the “frozen” pensioners at all.
As a pensioner in Canada, I fully support this just indexation cause but this could end up sounding very much like the words I heard Lord Carswell say in 2005 that “it will be too expensive…”