Commonwealth Day

Debate between James Gray and Marion Fellows

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, and to follow the hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra). I do miss the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller), but the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge) has stepped admirably into her shoes. I hope they were flat ones.

This year, Commonwealth Day took place on Monday last week. It marked a week of activities and celebrations around the theme of forging a sustainable and peaceful common future, serving as a reminder of the deep ties and shared goals between Commonwealth nations. I think we can all agree with that. The Commonwealth still has a long way to go in adapting to a more socially conscious and multipolar world; however, that must be done in the spirit of equality and mutual benefit.

The Commonwealth must make progress on the charter adopted in 2013. It was full of aspirations for justice, democracy and human rights, and we all want to see those things. The UK Government should formally acknowledge complicity in and make amends for the UK’s role in the slave trade and the legacy of colonial atrocities around the world. Scotland is doing that. Work is going on in schools, but more needs to be done across the UK.

There are many deep ties between the UK and the Commonwealth. Despite that, 90% of pensioners affected by the frozen pensions policy live in Commonwealth countries. I am using this debate as an opportunity to highlight the unfair treatment of British pensioners, including veterans and former public servants, and Commonwealth citizens who have contributed to this country, only to be abandoned and forgotten as they face financial hardship. I am grateful to endfrozenpensions.org and the all-party parliamentary group on frozen British pensions for the briefing that I received. I have been talking about this matter since I arrived in Parliament in 2015, and I will continue to do so at every opportunity.

An example of a pensioner affected by the frozen pensions scandal is Anne Puckridge, a 98-year-old world war two veteran who receives a state pension of just £72.50 a week after moving to Canada to be closer to her family. In the coming months, she will be excluded once again from the annual uprating, bringing the total she has lost during her retirement to £41,000. Research by the APPG on frozen British pensions found that half of frozen pensioners receive £65 per week or less, and more than 50% struggle financially because of their frozen pension.

The UK owes a debt of gratitude to the Windrush generation, but the story of Monica Philip, who moved to the UK from Antigua, tells a different story. She worked for 37 years in the UK, including as a civil servant for the City of London social services and the Ministry of Defence. She returned to Antigua to care for her ailing mother and, as a result, receives a frozen UK state pension of just £74 per week.

Reverend Maxwell left for England from Antigua in 1957. He worked in the UK on the railways. Eunice Hughes worked as an NHS Nurse. The couple moved to Jamaica following a pastoral calling, and the UK Government encouraged the Reverend Maxwell to top up his British pension voluntarily by £3,000 to ensure he had made the full contribution. When they lived in Jamaica, the couple received their full pension uprating every year. However, they have since moved to Antigua, where their pensions are now frozen.

Commonwealth countries such as Canada are ready and willing to work with the UK Government to end this injustice. The Canadian Government’s most recent request to negotiate a new reciprocal social security agreement was just last year—the fourth time since 2013—yet the UK Government continually refuse to engage on the issue, leaving nearly half a million British pensioners to face a retirement of poverty.

All UK pensioners with national insurance contributions are entitled to a British state pension regardless of where they live. However, nearly half a million UK pensioners overseas are excluded from annual payment upratings because they live in the wrong country. That means their pension is frozen at the level it was at when they left the UK or first withdrew their pension, and it is falling in real value year on year. Government inaction to address the issue is a stark failure to protect our most vulnerable and is leaving our own citizens in poverty. All it takes to end this injustice—

[James Gray (in the Chair)]

Order. I am reluctant to interrupt the hon. Lady. She is making a most interesting speech, but it is quite wide of the subject we are discussing, which is Commonwealth Day. The Minister might find it difficult to reply on a matter that is not her responsibility. The hon. Lady might like to return to the subject of Commonwealth Day and the role of the Commonwealth.

[Marion Fellows]

Mr Gray, if I tell you that 90% of people with frozen pensions live in the Commonwealth, may I continue from that point?

[James Gray (in the Chair)]

The subject of the debate is Commonwealth Day and the role of the Commonwealth, rather than people who happen to live in a Commonwealth country. It might be sensible to return to the main topic under discussion.

[Marion Fellows]

I respect your advice as Chair, Mr Gray. I will not continue on this; I believe I have made my point forcefully. I ask the Minister to listen carefully to what I said, because this is an injustice that must end.