Foreign brides are blamed behind closed doors in Whitehall for the government’s decision to scrap state pensions for spouses of British expats.
The government is worried that internet charmers on dating sites are luring British male pensioners overseas – and in some cases the attraction of up to £66 a week tax-free paid by the UK government is uppermost in their minds.
The move affects around 220,000 widows and widowers living overseas who are currently claiming their late spouse’s state pension.
The problem for the government is that the number claiming the married person’s allowance has rocketed from 190,000 claimants 10 years ago to the current figure – and it’s likely to rise further.
And that’s where the popularity of internet dating is blamed, as the rise in figures coincides with the spread of access to the web.
Unfair and unsustainable
The plan was announced in the Queen’s Speech 201. Pensions Minister Steve Webb defended the move saying that many people paid National Insurance in order to get a pension but most of those now receiving a spouse’s pension had never set foot in the country and never made any contributions.
He added: “For most people that is not what National Insurance is for and this is unfair and unsustainable.”
As an example he said that an American man can marry a British woman and if she has a full record of making National Insurance contributions, he could then claim a pension of £3,500 a year for the rest of his life having never paid a penny himself towards National Insurance.
Closing the loophole will save the government £410 million a year though it looks like current pensioners won’t be affected by the move which is detailed in the new Pensions Bill.
Once the bill becomes law, all claims after 2016 will not be allowed.
Flat rate state pension
Another measure which has also been unveiled is the introduction of a flat rate pension which is based on a person’s contributions during their working life.
The overhaul will see a single tier pension being paid of £144 per week, at current rates, from April 2016 to all new pensioners.
While many pensioners will benefit as a result among the losers will be those who have been paying into a second state pension as this is being abolished.
Critics of the move to ban expat spouses claiming the state pension say the new single-tier system will mean it has a limited effect.
What this article fails to mention, as indeed the Pensions Minister Steve Webb also conveniently overlooked to disclose, is that it applies to ALL who seek to claim their pension based on their late spouse’s NI Contributions – INCLUDING UK CITIZENS WHO LIVE IN THE UK.
Why did he choose an American man marrying a British woman? He did so because that would be more emotively acceptable to the British public than detailing the effect on those who are living in the UK! The introduction of the “nationality” aspect of this proposal is a complete and utter red herring.
When one applied for an NI card many years ago the “contract” for making one’s mandatory contributions was that the government would, upon retirement, provide a pension together with, if one was married, a marriage allowance, should one’s spouse not be eligible in their own right.
One’s contributions also covered a spouse’s pension should one predecease him or her.
Many married women were encouraged by the government only to pay the “small stamp” as their husband’s contributions would cover their pension rights. Now, Webb, has not only reneged on that “contract” but, in the process destroyed the pension planning and budgeting of countless pensioners.
Add the frozen pension scandal, for which he is totally unable to offer any justification, to the stress and worry he is now inflicting on many a pensioner and the hypocrisy of his claim for fairness becomes all too apparent.
This latest “hit the pensioner” scam could well be the final straw for the voters of a once great country. Steve Webb has admitted on TV that he has no idea how many claimants have not set foot in the UK and this is a classic case of a sledgehammer to crack a nut. This new policy will hit more UK residents than non-residents and the amount of money saved is small change compared to the amount expats save the UK taxpayers. Expat pensioners save the country around £7 billion a year by not using the NHS and the add on benefits that pensioners in the UK get. Terminating membership of the EU (which it seems is what most citizens want) will save taxpayers £150 billion a year. Those two examples alone make the £410 million a year saved by these latest idea seem like small change. If he is so concerned that only those who pay into the NI fund are entitled to a state pension then why has he reneged on his pledge to unfreeze the state pensions of the 4% of expats and treat them the same as the rest of the expats who are not frozen, after all they have ALL paid into the NI scheme under the same terms. As the new Commonwealth Charter states commonwealth countries are opposed to all forms of discrimination and yet the UK government are doing just that to 4% of it’s own seniors. Hypocrites and liars come to mind.
You really don’t think that Steve Webb’s main target was the “Internet bride” or the “overseas spouse” do you?? He also said (much later, after his initial widespread announcement) that UK dependent spouses would be also be similarly affected!
The £410 million Webb mentions to be ‘saved’ is peanuts, a paltry amount, and NOT the main thrust of this attack. Also the huge increase from 190,000 claimants, 10 years ago, to the present 220,000 (that’s an astronomical 3,000 a year!!). Heavens, we can’t afford that lot can we?
To return to the UK situation, now it will be that we can have a British resident pensioner, who as well as his ex-employers, have contributed to his pension for 30 odd years. His stay-at-home spouse has had to look after the family, there can’t be many of them can there?? The pensioner dies, and what happens to his pension??
It goes back to the DWP doesn’t it, because his spouse hasn’t contributed “a penny” to her own pension. This measure is as Webb said later irrespective of nationality or country of residence, and that – of course includes the UK.
NOW, with the UK included (but not mentioned in earlier articles) he’s saving a bit more than £410 million I should think!
THAT’S what Webb wants, and all this hype over the “internet brides” and “overseas spouses” is going to give it to him on a plate!! The ‘hype’ is purely to divert attention towards the ‘overseas spouse’ – and away from the UK population – a side benefit of course is to try to reclaim voters from UKIP.
Unfortunately some people can’t see further than their noses, and they have failed completely to see Webb’s main objective, which was of course the UK all along, and NOT Internet brides.