According to the Scottish Express¹ the Winter Allowance payment worth £300 for the over 80s is to be ended for ex-pats living in Cyprus, Portugal, Greece, Spain, France and Malta. The reasoning is that the average temperatures of these countries is higher than the temperature of the warmest part of the UK.
‘In 2002/3, a total of 8,000 people in 16 countries claimed the benefit, costing taxpayers £1million. But the figure has rocketed since the EU’s expansion. Now 50,000 people in Spain, 30,000 in France, 3,300 in Portugal, 8,000 in Cyprus and 2,000 in Greece get the benefit.’
Now, if the UK government had said that UK tax paying ex-pats were not getting the allowance because they didn’t need to heat their homes in the Winter then this would make sense. However, as many high altitude living ex-pats know, temperatures where they live often drop below temperatures being experienced in the UK. This leaves these ex-pats with the feeling that while this allowance will be paid to tax dodging millionaire UK dwellers it will not be given to freezing low income tax paying pensioners living outside the country.
The allowance was given to help prevent deaths from cold by helping to pay for winter fuel and with current sub zero overnight temperatures in some areas of Cyprus and Spain, for example, this change will bring suffering.
What about a Summer fuel allowance for those ex-pats needing air conditioning in temperatures in excess of 40°C?
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There is, of course, no real logic to this, nor to any other proposal these evil clowns make.
I see it doesn’t mention Germany. Maybe they will get around to that at the same time they take away the tax allowance on the pension they insist on taxing in the UK.
Yet, the family allowances will continue to wing their way to the countries of residence of the children of EU citizens working in the UK, regardless of whether they have paid in for a week, a year, five years.
The fact that the majority of the current pensioners living abroad paid their dues all their working life which in some cases 40 years plus. Easy targets?
The fact is that if the UK paid a decent state pension there would be no need for fuel allowances. Pensioners paid their dues and now find they are treated as if they are
the least thought about section of society and a burden.
Quite right Polly.
I was always a little cynical about the UK state pension being the lowest in Europe. A while ago I looked it up, and it was, indeed, the lowest in Europe.
As ever, they go for those in the weakest position, not just pensioners but the sick and disabled.
As far as they are concerned we ARE a burden.