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Not Apathetic

Tell the world why you're not voting - don't let your silence go unheard

They're not voting because...

Frozen British State PensionsI can...

Frozen British State Pensions

I can sympathise with the views on Frozen British State Pensions by Sydneysider, Ava Hubble.

My 90 year old mother lives in Adelaide, South Australia, on a frozen pension which was frozen at the rate when she retired in 1974.

If it were not for the fact that she had worked a little and had been an Australian resident for a number of years and is therefore entitled to an Australian state pension, she would be living in abject poverty.

All people have paid the required National Insurance contributions for the British State pension and it is indexed for someone living in the USA but not indexed for someone living in Canada, is for Bermuda, isn't for St Vincent, is for Barbados, isn't for St Lucia, is for the Philippines, isn't for Australia, is for Croatia, isn't for Malaysia, is for Switzerland, isn't for New Zealand, the absurd list goes on and on....

written 18th Apr 2005

Responses

B. Holt replies: I too am an expat Brit living in Astralia and I am 93 years old. The moment I arrived in Australia my penion was capped and I was deprived of the annual cost-of-living bonuses. This is a disgraceful discrimination which is completely indefensible. Parties promise to right this injustice when in opposition, but renege when they win an election. We ex-pats may have worked for our country, fought for our country and paid all our pension contributions; but now few of us are entitled to vote in England so Goverments reckon they can safely short change us. They should be ashamed.

written 29th Apr 2005

About Not Apathetic

NotApathetic was built so that people who are planning not to vote in the UK General Election on May 5th can tell the world why. We won't try to persuade you that voting is a good or a bad idea - we're just here to record and share your explanations. Whether ideological, practical or other, any reason will do.

A lot of users would like us to mention that if you spoil your ballot paper, it will be counted. So if you want to record a vote for "none of the above", you can.

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