WW2 veteran ‘stripped of all dignity’ as Starmer declines meeting on frozen state pensions: ‘Bitter disappointment’
World War Two veteran Anne Puckridge has shared her “bitter disappointment” after having a request to meet Sir Keir Starmer denied.
Puckridge, 99, wanted to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the Government’s policy of freezing the state pensions of some British citizens who live overseas.
She is one of just over 453,000 British pensioners living abroad who do not get any annual rise in their state pension.
After travelling from her home in Canada to lobby the government, Starmer spurned her advances due to “pressures on his diary” – but she was granted a meeting with Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds.
Speaking on GB News, Puckridge said the policy has stripped her and others of their ‘dignity’, and her trip to the UK has offered no hope of change.
In a message to the PM, she said: “Your response today regarding frozen pensions was a bitter disappointment.
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“Not only to me, but to roughly half a million pensioners dotted around the world.
“It’s been a great shock to us to realise that we’ve been discarded by our own government.
“We hope he will remedy this. We’ve been stripped of all dignity and all the extra comforts of life for which we contributed all the time we were working.”
Puckridge arrived in Canada in 2001 and she has since “not had any indexation whatsoever” on her pension.
The 99-year-old said she received “no warning at all” from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that her pension was set to be frozen.
“The fact the government kept very quiet and calm was a big surprise to us”, she added.
“As soon as I realised my pension was going to be indexed, I started writing to the people saying ‘please let us know, why am I getting no pension? What is the actual policy behind the situation?’
“I got replies, but they all said either they were passing my letter on or the government has no intention of making any changes at the moment.”
Had Puckridge remained in Britain, she would receive £169.50 weekly – but she instead receives £72.50.
The veteran, who served in the Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service, estimates she has lost approximately £60,000 over 23 years due to the lack of inflation uplift.
She is among nearly half a million British pensioners affected by the frozen pension policy.
The DWP defended its longstanding policy in a statement.
“We are deeply proud of our veterans and their families for the contribution they make to our country,” a spokesperson said.
“We understand people move abroad for many reasons, and we provide clear information on how this can impact their finances in retirement – with the policy on the uprating of the UK state pension for recipients living overseas a longstanding one.”
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi called the policy “indefensible,” noting that uprating pensions going forward would cost approximately £50 million in the first year.