Frozen pensions: Dunkirk veteran among those losing up to £5,600

theguardian.com:

Almost half a million UK pensioners living overseas will be left out of pocket by up to £5,600 this year after being excluded from this month’s annual state pension increase.

They include the 103-year-old second world war veteran Albert Johnson, one of the last remaining survivors of the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, and his 95-year-old wife, Mary, who are originally from Lincolnshire and now live in Beechboro, Western Australia.

They are receiving UK state pensions that are a fraction of what they would get if they had stayed in the UK or moved to one of a list of other countries.

The couple are among 492,000 older Britons living abroad who are losing out as a result of the UK’s “frozen pensions” policy. These people’s basic state pensions do not increase every year, as happens in the UK, but stay at the level they were on the date the individual moved away if they had already retired, or became entitled to the payment if they were already living overseas.

On 11 April, all UK state pensions and most state benefits went up by 3.1%. As a result, the basic state pension rose by £4.25 to £141.85 a week, while the full new state pension went up by £5.55 to £185.15 a week.

This will give UK pensioners a little more protection from the rising cost of living but the 492,000 Britons who emigrated or retired to countries such as Australia, Canada and South Africa will not get a penny extra.

Some of the oldest “frozen pensioners” are receiving payments of only £30 to £40 a week, which never go up.

For example, a single pensioner who retired in late 1982 after having made the full contributions would be getting £32.85 a week, or £1,708 a year, if their pension was frozen then. If they had stayed in Britain they would now be getting