Decision on frozen pensions is “shameful and morally unjust”

16/03/2010

Britain’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), has described today’s decision by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights not to force the UK government to pay an annual increase in the state pension to all UK pensioners regardless of their country of residence as “shameful and morally unjust”.

There are currently around 150 countries where the UK state pension is not annually uprated and the estimated annual cost of uprating all UK state pensions would be £540m. However, there are many countries - including those in the EU - where the UK citizens do receive an annual uplift. It was this anomaly that was being contested.

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “Around 500,000 UK pensioners  who have spent years paying their national insurance contributions had  been hoping to see some justice today, but have been severely let down by the European Court of Human Rights. It is shameful and morally unjust that you can pay a lifetime into the state pension system but the government doesn’t have to increase that pension every year if you retire to Canada – but they will if you live in America. It makes no sense at all and will be seen by many as an affront to natural justice.”