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www.celtic-connection.com
SEPTEMBER 1999
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Surprise Development Over UK 'Frozen Pensions'
Why are British Pensioners applauding a surprise action taken far away in Australia?
"It is because the Australian Government has finally put on the boxing gloves," says Philip Currah, Honourary President of the B.C. Branch of the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners, "and they have hit the British Government smack on the jaw with a stinging uppercut from Down Under."
Britain uprates United Kingdom pensions for inflation every year, but discriminates against pensioners living in Commonwealth countries, notably Australia and Canada, by refusing them the increases, driving many of them into poverty.
Now, in a strongly-worded media release over the issue, the Australian Government has announced that it is to terminate its Social Security Agreement with the U.K.
"The Australian Government is no longer prepared to accept the U.K.'s discriminatory treatment of its pensioners in Australia," says Senator Jocelyn Newman, Minister for Family and Community Services.
"I wanted the United Kingdom Government to be particularly aware of the Australian Government's concern over the United Kingdom's continuing refusal to
address the situation of its pensioners in Australia."
Senator Newman's statement points out that the increases are paid to UK pensioners in other countries, including the European Union, Turkey, the Phillippines and the United States. She has "informed the United Kingdom that its refusal to index payments to its pensioners in Australia is unacceptable within our existing bilateral social security arrangements."
"The Blair Government is now morally on the ropes on this issue," says Philip Currah. "They have given up any attempt to justify their blatant discrimination. This money is owed to these pensioners, and for the mighty British Government to plead poverty as a reason for not paying its debt is both outrageous and disgraceful.
"Many pensioners of Celtic origin are caught in the 'frozen pension' trap. The Irish Republic does the honorable thing and uprates its pensions regardless of where its pensioners live, putting Britain to shame on this matter. Thousands of people from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are among the sufferers."
An example of a pensioner who is active in the C.A.B.P. campaign is Bill Ahern of North Vancouver. Bill and his wife Marion, both
from Edinburgh, came to Canada in 1950. Bill, who sailed in the Merchant Service and in the Royal Navy before working in shipbuilding, is a C.A.B.P. volunteer, spreading the word among British expatriates who are — or will be — U.K. State pensioners. "Through the C.A.B.P. we can pull together to get our pensions paid in full, as they are in other parts of the world," says Bill, "it is up to everyone affected by this injustice to get involved in our 'anti-freeze campaign'."
"The Aussie punch inspired coverage in the national press in Britain, says Philip Currah,"one extensive story in The Sunday Times featured two of our British Columbia members, Chris and Gwen Marris, who estimate that they have lost some £20,000 in the 13 years they have lived in Canada. Chris is a Second World War British Army veteran, who was 'Mentioned in Despatches' — every Briton should be ashamed of the mistreatment meted out to him and thousands like him. •
"Anyone, anywhere in Canada, who would like information about their British Pension rights, and about our campaign, and how to support it, can call C.A.B.P. free on 1-800-760-6633, mention The Celtic Connection and leave their name, address and phone number and we will be pleased to get back to them."
Brits Living Abroad Denied Pension Increases
The official British Government position regarding the payment of British pensions to non-resident pensioners is that the non-indexation of British pensions paid abroad is a long standing policy of successive British Governments since 1955. Although there are exceptions to this rule under European Community regulations and under some other agreements, about 60 percent of pensioners living abroad, including those in Canada, do not receive annual pension increases.
An official release dated August 1999, reads: "In July 1998 there were over 137,000 British pensioners living in Canada. To pay them full U.K. rates of benefit would cost some £73 million (about C$175 million) a year and would inevitably lead to pressure to treat British pensioners in other countries in the same way. It would cost some £275,000 million (approximately C$660 million) a year to pay full U.K. rates of benefit to all U.K. pensioners living abroad.
"If we considered paying full U.K. rates of benefit to all U.K. pensioners living abroad, the additional cost would have to be found from the money available for Social Security and looked at in the context of the many other competing demands for improvements to our Social Security scheme.
"Over the next three years, the total expenditure on Social Security is expected to grow from £97.4 billion (approximately C$234 billion) in 1997/98 to £11.7 billion (approximately C$268 billion) by 2001/2.
"The Government is aware of the strength of feeling on this issue. However, it believes the priority should be to concentrate any additional resources that may become available on those pensioners resident in the U.K., in particular those who have most difficulty in making provision for
themselves and who would otherwise have the lowest incomes in retirement."
•
For more information, write to British Information Services 80 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5K7 or visit their website at: www.bis-canada.org.
Guiding Clan MacFie into the Millennium
PERTH, Ontario — The Clan MacFie Society in Canada has elected a local resident as their president for the next two years. Robert Douglas Macfie issumed his position early this year and will guide the clan societ- Into the new millennium.
Clan Macfie, once considered dissolved, was resurrected by Doctor Earle Douglas MacPhee. In 1981, the Lord Lyon of Scotland, after receiving an exhaustive historical report from Earle, accepted that family members, while having been deprived of a leader, had not dispersed and forgotten their origins.
One of the oldest families of Scotland, the original name MacDhubhshith means "dark men of peace," and this name anglicized to MacDuffie or Macfie. MacDuffie can be translated as "son of the black peace." The origins of this name may refer to dark robes worn by monks or, when considering the Gaelic translation, may be associated with black magic.
The clan's chiefs were traditionally the keepers of the records for the McDonald Lords of the Isles. When that lordship fell in 1493, the clan's fortunes fell into decline. Malcolm, the last Clan Macfie chief, was murdered on Colonsay in 1623, and the clan was dispossessed of its lands and dispersed as a broken clan becoming a race of wanderers. However, members have continued to congregate and assemble in smaller numbers throughout the years.
The goals of the Clan Macfie Society in Canada are to reach other family members to promote good relations, family genealogy, and family history. For more information, write to Clan Macfie at 4l Sunset Boulevard, Suite #510, Perth, Ontario K7H 3H8. Phone (613) 267-1146 , or e-mail: langhouse@perth.igs.net.