British Pensioners In Eu To Keep Winter Fuel Allowance

[gramps85]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/27/pensioners-living-in-eu-to-keep-winter-fuel-allowance/#:~:text=British%20pensioners%20living%20in%20Europe,threshold%20set%20by%20Rachel%20Reeves.

35,000 British Pensioners living in the EU are to keep the WFA. I wonder how many of them pay their taxes into the UK coffers.

 

[gulliver1]

11.59 "Please note" ...What of Prudie ??

[newmodarmy]

I think Prudie is pointing out the rudeness of your post, although you are rude so often and get away with it I don't expect the Ed or mods to act and remove your post or put you on the naughty step

[gulliver1]

NMA 12.24 I think you have a one track mind and fail to read the pot and kettle posts...get it!

[newmodarmy]

I am able to spot a nasty post gulliver

[bednobs]

Crumbs since when did expats become the enemy?

[gulliver1]

Bedknobs 13.32 Ever since Gramps and TTT decided.

[Old_Geezer]

It is even more idiocy from the present agreement. How can anyone contemplate suggesting treating citizens in their home nation worse than those living abroad ? Maybe Starmer can bring that up while he's renegotiating the return of our fishing areas.

[barry1010]

It's because Starmer has no choice, OG.  This was one of the many conditions and agreements attached to Brexit. 

The Tories didn't primarily cut the payments to some countries to save money - it was a reaction to the backlash the government was getting from people living in the UK who strongly objected to pensioners living in warm countries, where heating was often never needed, getting the WFA.

At the same time, (2013) 'Labour has pledged to scrap the winter fuel allowance for higher rate taxpayers, saving £100m a year."

https://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/news/george-osborne-axes-winter-fuel-payments-for-expats/

[barry1010]

That condition (UK must pay some ex-pats WFA) is up for review next year, so we shall wait and see what happens

[New Judge]

"It's because Starmer has no choice, OG.  This was one of the many conditions and agreements attached to Brexit."

Quite so, barry. But what I think OG is pointing out is that the UK government should never have signed that agreement. This episode demonstrates the utter lunacy of it.

The UK should have left with no deal which was what I and many others advocated. The EU could then have been left to resolve the Irish border problem. Since it seemed only to trouble them there was no reason why either Ireland or especially the UK should have helped them out. They could also have been left to solve the myriad of other trifling details which go to make up their ridiculous regulatory bureaucracy. But what's done is done.

[barry1010]

I agree totally, NJ.

[naomi24]

Me too.

[DTCwordfan]

gramps, pensions are worked out by the countries that expats lived in and paid into their national pots...so think of it as a pro-rata system. All I will say is that I get a higher state pension from the EEC from the third of my career spent there than that accumulated in the UK and its tax paid at source whereas my UK one isn't. As to WFA, then that should be where we are currently resident - or pro-rata-ed - which it isn't... a pro rata would be fair but probably more hassle to the Government than it's worth.

[gulliver1]

DTC 17.58 This is the very first time you have ever made a sensible post on AB...Well done .