Pensions: who pays for falling pound?

MANY, like us, gave our active working lives of some 35 to 40 years to British society, often working long hours, paying all our tax and national insurance dues while suffering with increasing dismay the social destruction of Great Britain. In deciding to live in the French community and its traditions of solidarity and social care, we have already made financial and family sacrifices and now see our UK pensions at 40% less in euro-value than five years ago.

However we so value the richness of the caring culture here that we will accept the tightening of belts necessary to continue to support and share the culture and attitudes we so enjoy, despite being financially poorer.
Helen and Brian Hurley
By email

Further to the arguments put forward by Brian Cave and Roger Gale MP in the January edition, what particularly irritates me is the inflexibility of not allowing income tax on public service pensions to be paid in France.

As the prevailing attitude in Britain appears to be “they took their money and went to live in the sun, why should we help?" I would prefer to see my taxes benefit to the country where I live. As it is, this money is being doled out to banks and other ne'er do wells on Gordon Brown's agenda.
Terry Hawker
Deux-Sèvres

Mr Brian Cave thinks that UK government pensions for civil servants such as teachers should be exempt from taxes in France. Not content with having had a secure job for life, unlike the rest of us in commerce or industry, with having had an above average salary for below average annual hours worked (witness the number of teachers with maison secondaires who manage ten days here in France for Christmas, followed by a break in February, again at Easter, five or six weeks in summer and a further break in October).

Not content with a gold-plated index-linked pension, unlike the rest of us who have seen our pensions decimated by the activities of Gordon "prudence" Brown, he has the cheek to want tax breaks in his adopted country of residence just for retired civil servants. That as far as I can see is discrimination.

No wonder the Aussies call the Brits whingeing poms.
Enjoy what you have instead of whining for more. I just say thank goodness for the new auto-entrepreneur rules that will allow me to go back to work to make ends meet on my small, non-civil service pension, still leaving me time to enjoy life here in France.
Keith Howlett
Via email

My wife and I are ashamed that the French government will, it seems, be obliged to bail out British pensioners.
The problem is not solely the pound/euro exchange rate; a lot of it goes back to the British government and its refusal to bring the basic pension up to the official government poverty level of £150 a week for a single person. The government imposed a guillotine to prevent a debate on restoring the link to earnings.

These actions are an attack on the incomes of one of the most vulnerable sections of the community in a country that is the fourth richest in the world. We believe these actions equate to age discrimination. As they have used £50 billion to bail out bank shareholders, was this part of the pension fund? So much for a caring government.

We suggest all pensioners write to their MPs, press and Gordon Brown - the principal architect of these attacks.
Roy and Carol Smith
Haute-Loire

The attitude of the UK government seems to be against those who have paid into the system all of their lives. In a recent edition of the Politics Show, there was a feature on UK fuel allowance and the BBC sent reporters to Granes and Quillan (Aude) to interview expats.

The government's stance was clearly endorsed by MP Terry Rooney, Labour Work and Pensions Committee, who said openly that one expat was “obviously in a very comfortable financial situation to have made his choice (to live in France)”.

Remarks such as this are not only arrogant and offensive to those of us who live in France on very limited incomes, but also serve to illustrate how out of touch government ministers are with the realities of those who have paid into the UK system all of their lives whether they now live in the UK or in Europe.

At least there is some hope on the horizon thanks to the benefit of aspa, but surely it should be the responsibility of the UK government to support all its pensioners.

It should bring pensioners’ incomes up to the same level as that projected in your article Help for Euro hit pensioners and not rely on the French to take on this responsibility.
Let's also not forget that the majority of expats still have a UK vote. Perhaps it is time to make our voices heard.
Mike Broderick
Granes