Forces veterans aren’t getting pensions in another sign of discrimination against them
Homeless: This could be an armed forces pensioner. There are plenty of stories of them dying homeless and alone on the UK’s streets.
It seems the government has been making it hard for ex-servicepeople to claim the pensions that should be theirs by right.
If you’re not surprised by this, it could be because we have been seeing reports of former forces personnel being made to sleep on the streets because they cannot afford a place to live.
So much for the government’s gratitude to those who have offered to lay down their lives for Queen and country.
Here’s the BBC:
Many veterans in Wales aged over 60 are not receiving armed forces pensions, according to a leading charity.
Age Cymru’s Steve Boswell said the money could make the difference between a life of “making do” and “activities and opportunities”.
Armed forces personnel who served from 1975 were automatically enrolled in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS).
But they must contact the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to be able to claim the cash.
The system is complex and eligibility is linked to factors such as amount of time served and the end of service, as well as retirement age.
Age Cymru said evidence from a Wales-wide project suggested many over-60s were not claiming what they are entitled to.
Why is the system so complex? Why is the government so keen to insult the people who have guaranteed our safety over recent decades?
We can only conclude that this is deliberate persecution – for which we should all be ashamed.
Source: Armed forces veterans missing out on pensions, says charity – BBC News
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Does the people’s now that aktion t4 takes many forms of denying benefits to those who are entitled to them forces I remember way back when thatcher was in that one of my mates from the forces wondering the streets untill I asked my flat mates could we help him around two yrs he stayed with us was help given to him nah not one iota was given then so many forms of abuse they have Jeff3
Before 1975, military pensions could be entirely thieved, as little paperwork kept. Harold Wilson put paid to that. You have to serve a minimum amount of years to get a service works pension. It must be difficult to claim a service pension, without a fixed address. Widows can inherit half a service works pension.
Grey Swans makes some very good points and paperwork is necessary to ensure that the payments that are made go to the correct individual. While one understands the possible problems those, at least, who do have an entitlement have a means of getting it.
However, take the case of 94 year old WW veteran, Anne Puckridge, who served in all three services and, on retiring from work age 76 went to live in Canada near her daughter, only to then find that her State Retirement Pension is frozen at the level it was on leaving the UK…no annual increases. Anne, is not alone, just 4% of all UK pensioners are discriminated against in this way simply because of where they now live, the majority in Commonwealth countries. THe DWP says it has been successive government policy for seventy years…Anne’s pension is seventy-two pounds a week, had she remained in the Uk or an EEA country or even the USA it would be one hundred and twenty nine pounds a week. Fair? Just? I think not.