Torrevieja Forum and Discussion Board

Here it comes
One of the lowest state pensions in europe
But it was ok to award themselves a £10,000 a year pay rise last year
Maybe there should be a campaign PLM , pensioners lives matter
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/chancellor-ri ... 49137.html

I am surprised there are no comments on this, thats half the reason the tories get away with punishing the elderly and weak, there seems to be no resistence when they announce they might be implementing this, and the government know it ,and as there is no other opposing party now close to challenging them in an election, they dont care
I hope if they do attempt to cut the state pension, the streets are filled with people in wheelchairs, and what remains of our war heroes, those that have not lost their lives already to coronavirus, blocking the roads
It worked for BLM , lets see if that idea would be as effective concerning the elderly , i wouldnt hold my breath

There are no attempts to 'cut the state pension'. It would appear that the triple lock on pensions will be suspended for a couple of years.

Why? because of the way the triple lock works - It guarantees the state pension will rise annually by whatever is the highest of price inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent.

Because of the effects of Covid-19 on earnings during 2020 - 2021 average wage growth is expected to fall by around 20% (the effects of furlough, wages and salary temporary cuts to help protect jobs).

This would mean that in 2021 - 2022 as the economy recovers to as near normal as possible, average wage growth is forecast to be in the region of 20% which would result in a state pension increase of 20% (due to the second factor in the triple lock being the highest).

So it is likely that pensions will increase by either the highest of price inflation or 2.5% in those years where the effects of Covid-19 would artificially skew the triple lock.

Nobody is being punished, no pension is being cut.

As a resident in Spain for nearly 20 years, I fail to see what resistance I could actually muster that would make a difference, anyone who has been here over 15 years doesn't even get a vote, so we don't actually have an MP to write to. As chrisz outlined above we are not likely to notice much difference, but the piss poor exchange rate is what will take our money.

Thanks for the replies
I was beginning to worry nobody really cares, and nobody of pensionable age living in spain will be affected
I look on this as a cut, or to be more generous to the government , a restriction
If the pension did increase by 20% then that might just take it closer to what it should be , and on par with other countries, and not leave those depending on just the state pension to struggle and have to use food banks and credits to survive
As a proportion of people on this forum live in the uk, i was just curious how they felt and what action they feel appropriate
Yes, the exchange rate is the real killer, even more reason to look after what is there and not let it be eroded by the governments mathematics
Pensioners living here will suffer more , especially those without a private pension as a back up
And before someone says thats the individuals choice, there are many reasons why someone was unable to have or maintain one
To me its do as we say not say as we do, you will never see an MPs wages or pension compromised, even by a recession or virus

Perhaps the reason for there originally being no replies was that people already understood that there was no attempt to cut pensions in the name of austerity.

As for the exchange rate it has levelled out again at around 1.10 euro to the pound. It still has a way to go before it hits the 1.02 euro to the pound which was achieved by the Labour Government under Gordon Brown.

Talking about MP's salaries, they did not award themselves a £10,000 pay increase last year. Their pay increases are annual changes linked to changes in average earnings in the public sector (so if pay in the public sector is held down, so are rises in MP's pay). Because of the rise in public sector pay, MP's pay rose by £2,464.

What is interesting is how MP's pay rises by more under Labour Governments c/w Conservative Governments. In the 10 years to 2010, MP's pay rose by £17,367 (under Labour). In the 10 years to 2020 MP's pay rose by £16,194 (under Conservatives).

But it was ok to award themselves a £10,000 a year pay rise last year

Explanation required please Jimmy1

My mistake, it was in 2013 and this years 10,000 extra was to do with additional expenses for working from home
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... 0-pay-rise

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-fact ... SKCN21R2IX

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-04-12/130 ... -scrapped/

Oh well, it seems i am put well in my place for trying to defend the pittance pensioners get , i apologise for my moment of weakness
I can only assume some here are so well off it doesnt affect them, and think the government is doing a great job spoonfeeding the inferm, and they well deserve their modest parliamentary pay
By the way i am not a labour supporter, i think their boat has sailed, but with only the tories left, they need to be kept in check and should not be allowed to target the weakest of society
How many more food banks do we need to see emerging , if they were not run by charities and as a business they could be a flagship enterprise that the government could be well proud of

There was no £10,000 increase in 2013 either (although there was an increase of £6,960 in 2015 due to pensions benefits being reduced, resettlement payments scrapped and expenses tightened)

MP's basic salary:
Increase date Basic salary Increase date Basic salary Increase date Basic salary Increase date Basic salary
Jan 1996 £34,085 Apr 2002 £55,118 Apr 2009 £64,766 Apr 2019 £79,468
Jul 1996 £43,000 Apr 2003 £56,358 Apr 2010 £65,738 Apr 2020 £81,932
Apr 1997 £43,860 Apr 2004 £57,485 Apr 2013 £66,396
Apr 1998 £45,066 Apr 2005 £59,095 Apr 2014 £67,060
Apr 1999 £47,008 Apr 2006 £59,686 May 2015 £74,000
Apr 2000 £48,371 Nov 2006 £60,277 Apr 2016 £74,962
Apr 2001 £49,822 Apr 2007 £61,181 Apr 2017 £76,011
Jun 2001 £51,822 Nov 2007 £61,820 Apr 2018 £77,379

Thanks chrisz for pointing out the discrepencies
I just want people to realise the state pension isnt a gift, most of us have paid for it all our working lives
If people dont fight to at least maintain its present measly level, what will future pensioners have
They say a temporary 3 year removal of the triple lock, do people really believe that
Once implemented it will be forgotten about and never reinstated, they will always find another excuse
They are increasing the age of eligibilty every few years now , look what happened with womens pensions, they lost 6 years
Will the government only be happy when we get it at 100 years old and have worked a minimum of 50 years
Yes , we are living longer and it means the government must find more because of this, and there is no money tree
But with just having the Uk national debt increase from one trillion to two, pension sustainability seems a drop in the ocean