davidinspain

And a lot to do with the general perception Middle England has of Expats in sunnier climes,makes for a very easy political target,Hope that the EU can stop this one,but don't hold out much hope (I don't receive it BTW)

sagalaut

Oh good,so I take it you are refusing to accept your pension.

bobd22

No neither do I although still in UK as non resident in Spain I am one of those caught in the ever increasing age cycle before you get anything.

Novocastrian

While I'm a great fan of cross-forum posting, I wonder why it is that the vast majority of frothing loon expats are in Spain and Portugal?

It's a real puzzle to me.

johnnyone

The Government have got to start cutting expenditure and whilst the WFA seems petty it's a start.

It's absolutely ridiculous that working people over 60 (me included) get the WFA. I also get a GLC freedom pass for free travel in London so effectively another subsidy for those over 60 that work even if only part-time.

All these add-ons should be stopped to fund a higher basic state pension that forms part of taxable earnings.

Whoever wins the next election is going to have to take some hard decisions to cut the deficit either by raising taxes or reducing public sector costs or both.
No party is likely to declare that to be their position this side of the election as it will cost too many votes but that's the reality.

The real big issue that needs sorting as opposed to tinkering with are public sector pensions as these will bankrupt the country if they continue in their present form.

Fredbargate

A start or just electioneering?

The Conservatives have vowed to cap public sector redundancy pay-offs, if the party wins May's general election.

The party's election manifesto would pledge to introduce legislation to limit payments to £95,000, Treasury minister Priti Patel said.

BBC News - Conservatives vow to cap public sector redundancy pay-offs

shazzabob

they also said something about migrants coming in to the country dont get anything for 3 years,also stop them claiming for children out of the country ,thats what made me sit up and want to vote for them .i wont hold my breath though

surreygirl

Good morning everyone.

Just want to say if you have signed the petition an email is sent to you confirm your signature. So far we have approximately 800 signatures but 100 odd have not signed the email sent to them. Many thanks.

InVinoVeritas

Don't know so much about Portugal but I think the expats in Spain have a had a very rough time of it and several austerity measures introduced by the Spanish have targeted them more than the Spanish nationals (who, coincidentally, have the right vote in the next elections). I guess being picked on quite speciously by their own government with regard to WFA is enough to make any Brit go loopy.

At the end of the day the WFA is just not worth the candle (unless maybe you heat with candles ) and probably costs as much to administrate. It would be better to get rid of it entirely methinks.

surreygirl

And more expats living in these two countries.

davidinspain

It's quoted often that opting people out of the unwanted benefits that you've quoted would cost more in admin costs than the benefit.We live in a world increasingly IT dependant,so you'd think that a fairly simple programme running on the HMRC data base could sort it out,but then that might be an over simplification.

la mancha

In late April 2013, Duncan Smith called for wealthier people to voluntarily return winter fuel payments, which are given to all pensioners regardless of wealth, to help reduce the strain on public finances. Then he was told that the DWP had no mechanism in place to receive returned payments. This from the idiot who runs the department.

Red Eric

You seem a bit stuck on the idea that there's nothing on "the government website" to confirm what's being said. It may not appear on the main page about this year's payments (because it doesn't apply this year) but there's all sorts all over the place about it.

This statement, for example which comes from page 3 of the document published here https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...pt14_final.pdf and which is most definitely from a government website.

Ingles

peterfc

Hi Red Eric

So it seems if you dig around you can find where the papers get there stories from. But still there is the matter of the EU ruling saying that the UK had to maintain the payments to Expats living in the EU.

At today's exchange rate it is only about 5euro per week so maybe not a problem to to many.

Peter