#CHOGM18

[meghanmarklesmafia]

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle attends a reception with delegates from the Commonwealth Youth Forum during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, England. || April 18th, 2018

[crownprincesses]

Her Majesty The Queen wearing The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara with the Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace at the CHOGM Dinner at Buckingham Palace. || April 19th, 2018

[theroyalweekly]

Prince Harry and the Prime Minister Theresa May meet members of the Commonwealth Youth Council and Youth Taskforce to hear about the issues young people want championing during #CHOGM18.

– Kensington Palace

[duchesscambridges]

The Duke of Cambridge attends a "Welcome to the UK" Reception on opening day of The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on April 16, 2018.

[camillaluddingtns]

The Duke of Cambridge arrives to attend a 'Welcome to the UK' reception on the opening day of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on April 16, 2018 in London, England.

[thebritgirl]

I think it would be absolutely fantastic if Kate had the baby Saturday, in time for them to make an announcement and have a bit of a cheer over it at the Queen's birthday concert that night

[thesussexfamily]

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at a reception for championing women's empowerment

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Just heard that the organisation and information of CHOGM18 is so bad that half of the press already left. On day one

I’m not surprised. Looking for news on this is exhausting. The Australian press is basically rerunning Commonwealth Games videos on the CHOGM articles.

[cooltheretiree]

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) - April 16th-20th 2018

Commonwealth Charter signed by the Queen in 2013

"We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds."

- Commonwealth Charter; Human Rights

This week, there is the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London, where there will be a gathering of Commonwealth Presidents/Premiers from 53 countries. The Commonwealth is home to a third of the world’s population. All Commonwealth Members have an equal say, regardless of size or economic stature.

These meetings are held every two years. As the UK is the host in 2018, Mrs. May will be representing the UK. There are 53 countries in the Commonwealth, of which 47 of them are ‘frozen’ countries which means that UK pensioners who had chosen to emigrate to them, will not receive any increases to their UK State Pension.

Who is affected?

There are over 550,000 UK pensioners living in 120 countries who never receive the annual increase to their UK State Pension. 515,000 of them, which is 95% of all frozen pensioners live in (48 out of 53) Commonwealth countries – I have highlighted the top 5 countries below:

Australia ( 244,358)

Canada (143,802 )

New Zealand (65,837)

South Africa (36,114)

India (4,856)

Anne Puckridge is aged 94, and she lives in Calgary, Canada:

 "It’s absolutely scandalous, I can’t believe the British government can be so cruel to pensioners when they have our money: I have paid national insurance all my life. I can’t afford to come back to the UK. I couldn’t afford to buy a property there – prices have gone up in the UK much further than they have here – and I can’t afford to rent either: I might live for another two decades. I’m trapped in Canada where prices are going up and my pension is going down. I have to worry about money every single day. I feel humiliated and ashamed."

Every year, the spending power of Anne's meagre UK State Pension is eroded - inflation continues to rise, and yet, Anne's UK State Pension is never increased - "frozen" for life.

What Anne would like to see next week is a conversation between the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Trudeau and Mrs. May, at CHOGM 2018 along these lines:

Source: International Consortium of British Pensioners

Sir Roger Gale (Con) who has served as the Member of Parliament for North Thanet in Kent since 1983 wrote an article in the Conservative own in house magazine entitled

"Our party must honour its commitment on frozen pensions"

and he continued:

"A significant number of   Commonwealth immigrants  who came to the United Kingdom in the 1950s and 1960s became established here, worked here, regard themselves as British and have paid their dues all their working lives. In old age, they may wish to return to their countries of origin but feel that they are being prevented from doing so because of the fear that their pensions will be frozen and that they will not be able to afford to live in the country of their birth. I believe this to be morally wrong."

There are six Commonwealth countries where UK expats do receive the annual increase to the UK State Pension. These are Cyprus, Jamaica, Malta, Barbados, Mauritius and Northern Island. As far back as 1996/7, the House of Commons Social Security Committee in their Third Report, Session 1996-97:

"It is impossible to discern any pattern behind the selection of countries with whom bilateral agreements have been made providing for uprating.”

UK pensioners living in some Commonwealth countries receive the annual increase to their UK State Pension whilst others do not – it is illogical

There is the disparity between the UK pensioners who live south of the Niagara Falls (in the US) that do receive the annual increase, compared to those who live north of the Niagara Falls (in Canada) that have their UK State Pension frozen. Well, with the Commonwealth countries, there are similar disparities – if you retired to live in Barbados then you do receive the annual increase to the UK State Pension. However, if you had retired to live in St Lucia, right next door, then you don’t receive the annual increase. How ridiculous is that?

The UK Government has always said that one of the reasons that they don’t uprate frozen pensions is because of cost, but, as the Supreme Court ruled in the case of O’Brien v Ministry of Justice 2013 UKSC 6[1]:

 “ It must be recalled that budgetary considerations cannot justify discrimination.”

 As it is, Britain already has one of the lowest state pensions of the 35 OECD countries, and is the only country to pay pensions at different rates depending on country of residence.

On June 9th last year, as part of her acceptance speech, Mrs. May said:

 “ The government I lead will put fairness and opportunity at the heart of everything we do”

In June 2016, Mrs. May also said:

 “ We will make Britain a country that works, not for the privileged few, but for every one of us”.

Just recently, Mrs. May, writing in the same Conservative “in house” magazine as Sir Roger Gale, said:

 “ We are a Party that works for the common good of everyone in our society”.

In March 2015, during a House of Lords debate, led by Baroness Floella Benjamin regarding the UK State pension, the Rt. Hon Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal, QC., who, at that time was Commonwealth Secretary General was reported in Hansard thus:

 “ My Lords, is there not a difficulty because, while I accept that there has been an iterative process over time, what we now have is a situation of fundamental unfairness? A number of British citizens who worked in this country all their lives, making a considerable contribution, are going to be treated differently if they choose to return to the countries of their birth. For example, if someone from the Caribbean was, happily, a Barbadian or a Jamaican they would be treated in one way; if they were not, they would be treated in another way. Does the Minister not think that there is now absolute necessity for us to address this unfairness, as opposed to allowing it to continue?”

The pension lobby group, the International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP), which is made up of British Pensions in Australia (BPIA), the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and the recently formed British Caribbean Pensioners Association (BCPA) is raising the awareness of the ‘frozen’ pension issue to those leaders who are attending CHOGM.

[1] Para 66 – Page 18 of 47

[mehtasatya07]

PM's meetings on the sidelines of CHOGM18 in London

@narendramodi http://dlvr.it/QQ9GyX

[premimtimes]

President Buhari participated in the Executive Session of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Lancaster House, London.

He was received by the British Prime Minister, Theresa May and Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland

See photos;

The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth officially opened the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (#CHOGM2018).

President Buhari arrives at Friary House, London for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (#CHOGM18)

President Buhari arrives at Friary House, London for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (#CHOGM18)

President Buhari arrives at Friary House, London for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (#CHOGM18)

President Buhari arrives at Friary House, London for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (#CHOGM18)

PHOTOS: President Buhari attends the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (#CHOGM2018) President Buhari participated in the Executive Session of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Lancaster House, London.

[meghanmarklesmafia]

Meghan Markle attend a reception with delegates from the Commonwealth Youth Forum during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, England. || April 18th, 2018

[crownprincesses]

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended the Commonwealth Young Forum at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre as part of the CHOGM18. The Commonwealth Young Forum is developed by an International Taskforce and made up of young leaders from across the Commonwealth, who are creating youth-led initiatives to influence decision makers. || April 18th, 2018

[newshourbd]

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina urges Asian leaders to create more peaceful, stable region

#Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina urges Asian leaders to create more peaceful, stable region #CHOGM18 @Commonwealth18 ‏ @commonwealthsec ‏

Viewing stability as the key to the future of Asia, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged the Asian leaders to build bridges and strive for connectivity to make the region more peaceful and stable for its further development and prosperity. “Indeed, we believe stability to be the key to the future of Asia. For that, we need to build bridges, strive for connectivity, both hard and soft and…

[tamilguardian]

#CHOGM is an opportunity to move beyond #EU GSP+ trade tariffs says #SriLanka's Finance Minister https://t.co/qHdT2CrB9T @Commonwealth18 #CHOGM2018 #lka #CHOGM18

#CHOGM is an opportunity to move beyond #EU GSP+ trade tariffs says #SriLanka's Finance Minister https://t.co/qHdT2CrB9T @Commonwealth18 #CHOGM2018 #lka #CHOGM18

— Tamil Guardian (@TamilGuardian) April 18, 2018

via Twitter https://twitter.com/TamilGuardian April 18, 2018 at 10:45PM

[publicsituation]

RT @ChathamHouse: Gambians voted me as president in 2016. My government's first priority was to promote human rights and open The Gambia to the world. We are now once more part of the Commonwealth of Nations - President Barrow of The Gambia #CHOGM18 #CHAfrica https://t.co/4xYDXRUqRc