Only 30 British OAPs live in DOMs

ONLY 30 people receiving British state pensions are listed as living in the French overseas departments despite the tropical islands being included in a calculation for the average French temperature that was used to refuse the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) to residents of France.

The figure is the latest one available from the government and compares to there being 59,600 British state pensioners in mainland France.

The Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mayotte and French Guiana in South America were added to average temperatures in mainland France - the UK then ruled that France was too warm for expats to continue to receive the £200 - £300 annual benefit.

If you believe it is wrong for Britain to stop this benefit to pensioners in France - as it proposes to do from winter 2015-2016 - sign the petition at WFP petition and pass the link onto others. The petition is open to all British nationals living in the UK or abroad. However, if you live out of the UK do not insert a postcode on the petition - as it prevents you from signing - just leave that field blank.

The petition needs 10,000 signatures for the government to provide a response – it currently has 4,500.

A petition also exists calling for a dedicated MP for British expats at: MPs petition
Connexion believes this is the best way for our voices to be heard. France, by comparison, has 11 dedicated MPs to represent its country's expats in different parts of the world and a dedicated Minister.

See our original article on the inclusion of the tropical islands at:
French tropic link to UK fuel pay ban

We will be following up on the WFP issue in our October issue. To ensure a copy subscribe by calling Nathalie on 06 40 61 71 97 or click on the button on our website's homepage.

Photo:Sybarite48