The Winter Fuel Payment

This is a copy of a document sent to the DWP on 29^th February 2016.

The Subject concerns the Statutory Instrument 2014 no. 3270 tabled before Parliament 15th December 2014. This removes payment of the WFP within 6 countries and Gibraltar.

Reference your FoI reply 360 of  26^th February 2016,

Attention – P.Lapraik, Work, Welfare and Wellbeing later in Life Division within the DWP.

Dear Mr Lapraik

You have experience of producing official booklets for ‘At-risk groups including older people with pre-existing medical conditions as well as those whose health, housing or economic circumstances put them at greater risk of harm from cold weather.’  I am aware the booklets were drawn up to care for older people in England, however, it seems to me the advice should apply to all British Citizens in receipt of a UK State Pension.

The two booklets pay attention to the negative health effects starting at relatively moderate outdoor mean temperatures of 4-8°C; and refer to the geographical distribution of cold weather as not being uniform. Low temperatures tend to be more severe in rural and exposed areas, occurring earlier in some parts of the country than others.

You were involved in the development and application of a policy, which declared an average winter temperature for the whole of France of 7.0°C, when you knew 19 of 22 Regions of France were below that figure, and 15 of them were below that of SW England.  The outcome has been damaging for numerous British pensioners in other States of the EU as you will discover as you read towards the end of this document after I have commented on the reply to question four of my FoI request.

In this mail I seek an internal review of my FoI 360 request, for I find the reply which I have received unsatisfactory.

I respond  in turn to each of the answers to my questions.

Reply Question One.   1. To state what was the objective in drawing up this S.I.?

Your reply refers me to the S.I. note & memorandum  The memorandum states

“Ministers are concerned about paying Winter Fuel Payments in EEA countries where the weather is generally warmer than the UK.  Therefore, DWP has considered ways of ensuring that the payment is better targeted on people who live in countries with a cold  climate.”

The following answer (TWO) implies that this is incorrect.  For that reply states -  “Other methods of making off-setting savings in public expenditure were considered”.

Although the memorandum states that the objective reason is otherwise, this is an obfuscation, for the true objective reason is a cost saving measure.

Do you agree or not that the objective reason is a cost saving measure?

Briefing from the DWP led both the Prime Minister’s Office, and that of the then Chairman of the Conservative Party to write to many complainants, that the DWP was: “broadly offsetting the cost of a recent European court judgement which stated that the Government must pay Winter Fuel Payment to EEA citizens who have a "genuine and sufficient link" with the UK”.   This is clearly saying that the measure was intended as a cost-saving proposal. Does this not indicate that the DWP has the intention to circumnavigate around  the EU regulations on the protection of the aged to achieve this objective? The memorandum in so many words admits that this was the intention.

Reply Question Two  2. Which other methods of achieving that objective were considered?

Your reply clearly says that my question is not going to be answered.   I wish to explore this because it is central to discovering the reasons for the S.I.   I think we can agree, can we not, that the objective reason is a cost saving measure.  On that basis what other measures were considered to cut the costs?  

Did the DWP research the possibility of including the WFP as an integral part of the State Pension, perhaps as a higher winter supplement to it?

Did the DWP consider dropping the WFP altogether?

Did the DWP consider  means testing of the WFP?

? others?

Reply Question Three 3. Why was the temperature criterion selected to achieve this objective?

The question is asking ---  What led the DWP to latch onto the idea of a temperature test? i..e. To cut the costs!

Again the answer throws one back to the Explanatory memorandum.  That reveals no further information on this question.

It says -DWP is aware there will be people who live in cold regions of “warm” countries who will not be eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment.  

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3270/pdfs/uksiem_20143270_en.pdf  - 

The welfare of the individual citizen was considered of lesser worth than the convenience of the administration.  An attempt has been made to search for loop holes or weaknesses in EU law to save costs, with disregard for the impact on  numerous British Citizens. Do you not agree?

Reply question Four . 4. What investigation or investigations were carried out to consider the potential impact of this temperature criterion on the poorer British Citizen

State pensioners resident in the seven EU States and dependency affected by this S.I.?

What investigations were carried out etc – i.e. impact assessments?  You admit that none at all were carried out, do you not?

The aforesaid Explanatory note states

“A full impact assessment has not been produced for these Regulations as they have no impact on the private sector or civil society organisations.”

You send to me in answer the Equality Analysis relating to restricting eligibility to Winter Fuel Payments in the EEA – Which is indeed not a full impact statement for the reply itself admits that the DWP has not considered the socio-economic implications of the S.I. 

That Equality Act States –"An authority must….have due regard to the desirability of exercising them in a way that is designed to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage."

Whatever the statement in the reply “Please note that socio-economic status is not a protected characteristic under section 149 (public sector equality duty) of the Equality Act 2010” is meant to convey…..

I cannot read anything in the Equality Act 2010 which justifies the exclusion of appropriate consideration of the impact of this S.I. on the weak, the aged, and the disabled, citizens.  It specifically states that AGE is a protected characteristic.

[Postscript to this on 20/03/2016 – Mr. Lapraik’s report on the relation between the Equality Act 2010   states Age Impact  There is no evidence to suggest that there will be any impact on people on the  basis of their age. The change does not affect the age at which a customer will be entitled to a WFP.]

One might argue that the SI selectively targets certain groups of  aged citizens and that as such it is contrary to the spirit of the Equality Act.]

I give below some extracts of information which I hold of such impacts which demonstrate unequivocally the deleterious impacts on some citizens resident in other States of the EU. They demonstrate only too well the manner in which the DWP fails to obey the requirements of the Equality Act with regard to welfare of the elderly.
 I ask for you to fully consider the matters I draw to your attention and consider the consequences of continuing the actions which the DWP have established.
Is it not the responsibility of your division within the DWP to recommend measures for the well being of the aged British Citizens?

1  --- 10/02/2012 20:03

Good Evening Mr Cave.
Just as I was yesterday, I am typing Emails sitting up in bed. I am  fully clothed in three jumpers, two pairs of trousers and a track suit. 
My dear husband, similarly dressed, is tucked up beside me.  He is eighty-six, and suffers from epilepsy and  a certain amount of mental confusion.
Outside the temperature is minus 2 degrees, and is expected to fall to minus 10 degrees tonight - a big improvement on the
minus 14 degrees we had last night.
We retired to bed at three o'clock this afternoon, when my husband found that crouching over our log-burner became too much strain
on his back.  The only room we can afford to keep warm is our bedroom, where we can use our electric blanket
plus a paraffin stove for warmth.  Our house has an antiquated central heating system which has broken down - and we can't afford to repair
or replace it. 
My husband served his country during the war, and worked all his life thereafter without claiming a day's unemployment benefit.
He finally retired at seventy.

2 -- 15/02/2012

Like your correspondent, we moved to France sixteen years ago, the year before the Winter Fuel Payment was instituted.  Since then, we have met many British expats, most of whom arrived in France more than six years after ourselves, and they, of course, do receive this allowance.  Whilst we do not, of course, hold this against them; good luck to them - I'm glad they get it. But it is this blatant discrimination by the British government, resulting in the older, more frail (and in many cases, poorer) pensioners being the ones to whom this vital heating allowance is denied and this really upsets me.  It beggars belief and I am absolutely astonished that those in successive governments have been unable to see this, not to mention their breaking of European rules (as outlined by the British Expats Association, Spain, and yourself, on many occasions). 

Like most of our friends, when we arrived in France aged 60, we were in good health.  However, as we all know, as the years go on, many of us are beset by various illnesses and the frailty of old age.  I have had several operations and many investigations in hospital for various internal and ophthalmic problems.  My husband had a hip replacement three years ago and two other operations since then.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer a year ago, for which he is being treated with chemotherapy.  He has suffered horrific and debilitating side effects and I am, of course, at the age of 77, his only carer.  We have no family, either here or in the U.K.  There have been improvements as well as setbacks in the progress of his illness and further chemotherapy is planned.

As you can imagine, this past year has been extremely hard on both of us and it is only with the support of the excellent French health professionals as well as the kindness of our friends and neighbours (both French and British) that we have managed to cope.   We live on a joint pension income of 12,000 pounds sterling per annum and have to draw on our very modest savings to supplement this.   Because of our low income, we downsized seven years ago to a tiny, one-bedroomed house which my husband converted from a carpenter's workshop but his illness and treatment cause him to feel the cold in the extreme and, in spite of the size of our house, I dread to think what our heating bill will be this Winter.  It is so dreadfully unfair that we and others in our situation are not allowed to receive the Winter Fuel Payment  from the British government when our compatriots do!  And, of course, there is nothing we can do about it as, having lived in France for more than fifteen years, we are now disenfranchised as well!

S.E R.

****************

3 -- December 30^th 2014

I’m a 74 year old British Pensioner, I have health problems - high blood pressure placing me in a high risk category of heart attacks and strokes, requiring beta blocker medication for the rest of my life; and I’m a thrombophilia sufferer requiring anti-coagulants for the rest of life, which thin my blood and make me more vulnerable to extreme temperatures.  So, it doesn’t matter whether I live in Blarney, Bristol, Bologna, Bordeaux or Barcelona, cold weather will always affect me.  OK if I live in Bologna, Bordeaux or Barcelona, I may get more daytime sunshine, particularly in the winter, but night-time in those countries will be much colder than Blarney or Bristol!  A British Pensioner is still a British Pensioner wherever he/she chooses to live within the EU!

R.B.

4 -- December 31st 2014

Thanks for this Brian - just read my EDF meter which tells me that my bill for 2 months will be just under 400€ and it will get even colder over the next 2 months. I'm 70 and I really do feel the cold more and more with each passing year.

A.

5 -- January 5^th 2015  Copied from The Anglo-Info forum site for Normandy.

I came here in 2005, rushing out of another European country and settled into rural life with difficulty. At that stage I had health and a car. I had a major car accident in 2010 followed by cancer  in 2011 (from which I am supposed to be in "remission", it might be stabilising) and am now alone trying to deal with the ridiculous situation that I am far from anywhere and have nothing to eat and also have difficulties eating and can't stand being on my own . This has nothing to do with the local people who on the whole are kind to me, although not really available to deal with this, but everything to do with me. I see no solutions to this situation at all.  I am known to the local social services and the local community. The supermarkets are 11 to 18 km away, there is no-one to take me to it and in any case I have been known to walk into and out of the local supermarket without buying anything. Also home deliveries are just about possible but not for the quantities I need. There is one bus a day from a two km walk to the village to one of the (moribund) towns.  I am at least three hours' drive from anyone who posts on this site   (south of Rouen).  I tried to buy some frozen things with the cleaning lady who gone away for more than a week now. It is insufficient and I am going hungry.

My house is cold.  I am 64, taking the cancer drug femara (not chemotherapy) and going mad here. My doctor is both on strike and doesn't want to know particularly. Also being "big" going down to a mere 91 kilos recently I have literally nothing much to wear apart from outsize t shirts which are embarrassingly like scarecrow stuff on me.   I see no solutions.

6 -- January 8^th 2014

We live in Burgundy where winter temperatures vary between minus 10c to minus 20c.

We have already had minus 10c and the coldest part of our winter is yet to come. My husband is 81, a diabetic and had a stroke 6 years’ ago. I am 71 and in good health but I feel the cold badly. It will be a real hardship for us not to have the winter fuel allowance.

 We are also puzzled by the fact that the UK has included warmer countries outside France in the decision to stop our allowance. These countries are not a part of

mainland France and  mainland France is not affected by their weather patterns. We therefore don’t understand the logic involved in this current decision at all.

It’s tantamount to saying that, if India were still a part of the UK, that no one in the UK would be eligible either!  

D.W.

29 March 2015

7 --

My husband, ******, is 77 years old, he has mobility problems, sciatica, asthma, insulin dependent diabetes, heart problems, and has been fighting cancer for 3 years. I have been his 24/7 carer for the last few years and still am, how dare the government want to strip us of everything we are entitled to?

I thank you for your support and help on behalf of both of us

with kindest regards  L.D.

8 -  April 19^th 2015 Two histories passed on by a Charity supporter.

 ROLAND

This gentleman is aged 90.  He joined  the RN as Boy Seaman aged 16. Served in an MTB .Sunk by enemy on D Day.He suffered severe wounds to his stomach. Was nursed back to health at the RN Hospital Haslar.

When discharged  became schoolmaster, founding a  Language School in the Belgian Congo & then teaching in Portsmouth. On retirement in the 1980's he moved to France.  Divorced . Three female children. One dead, others live ouside UK. Unable to provide funds.

He moved around  the Dordogne & South Charente  taking on house sitting jobs or living in rented accomodation. His capital was diminished by the banking crisis. He became unable to pay his rent. He was helped by Mrs Susan Patrick until recently, the SSAFA Treasurer for France . A tower of strength who persuaded his former Masonic Lodge to pay towards his debts and liaised with the French  "Service Publique",who  placed him  "sous tutelle" .Therefore his possessions have been sold & he is now confined in the Maison de Retraite in Aigre,Charente.His pension is used to pay for his upkeep. I think,but can not confirm  that he has been allowed to keep the Winter Fuel Payment. Which he will now lose. He does, of course, receive the annual £10 pensioners Xmas bonus from a grateful British Government!!

9 -- PETER.

Aged 70 plus.  Worked for the Sussex CC restoring artwork in Brighton Pavillion. Very small pension on early retirement. Lives here in  Creyssac,the village where my wife & I have lived for 20 years. The local GP asked us to keep an eye on him some 7 years ago. We found him living in total squalor . He was very ill.  The Pompiers  took him to Perigueux Hospital. He was in Intensive Care for a week. He was not registered with the Health Authority( CPAM ) so the Bordeaux Consulate were informed . They asked us to help. (There is no longer an Honorary Consul in the North Dordogne)   We contacted Newcastle to obtain  the the UK state Pension for him.They acted promptly,replying to the request for help by telephone midday on a Sunday. (Bravo)

He  lives  in a derelict house with no running water surviving on the two pensions & for the last 2 years the Winter Fuel Payments that he will now lose.

10 -- April 20^th 2015  From a carer who visits an elderly couple.

I carry a fleece in my car which I put on when I arrive at my client’s house because it is so cold inside! I pat myself on the back each year when she makes it through  to May again. I buy thermal vests, fleecy dressing gowns & socks for them for Christmas & birthdays. Her mobility is so bad & the house so old that I insist they  have the heating on 10 months of the year, day & night (I know they turn it off when I leave & go to bed instead).

11 --  May 7^th 2015.  (From Telegraph article by Elizabeth Roberts) Michael Boyd-Carpenter, 83, a retired stockbroker who lives in the Dordogne, said that while he has enough money to live on he knows of elderly Britons in his area struggling to make ends meet.

One, a man in his 90s, was wounded in action during the Second World War. His capital was diminished by the banking crisis and, unable to pay his rent, he now lives in a state care home.

 “I think he has been allowed to keep the winter fuel payment [so far] but will now lose it,” said Mr Boyd-Carpenter. “He’s a good example of someone who will suffer. So much for caring for our war heroes.”

Another, a man in his 70s, subsists on a small private pension plus the UK state pension.

“He lives in a derelict house with no running water surviving on the two pensions and, for the last two years, the winter fuel payments that he will now lose,” said Mr Boyd-Carpenter.

12 --  August 2^nd 2015  from R.M (France)

I live in L Q a small commune in Dept 22 - The winters here can be bitterly cold and we do have heavy rain, snow and ice - in the beginning of December and later on in the New Year.  It is most uncomfortable and I am housebound. We have no facilities eg shops, restaurants, mobile shops here in the commune.  I do not drive and have to organise  Transport on Demand - trips to ……. for shopping (have a friend who lives there) etc. I have to give two days notice but I try and plan ahead and go shopping monthly.  Here are some pictures of the commune.

I have four hot water bottles on standby!!

13 ---  21/08/2015 – from S.F.

My mother-in-law is 86 and lives here and she uses the WFA for her logs – it covers about half her winter fuel costs and she’s in S. Portugal where we can have frosts for 3 months of the year!

14 – 25/08/2015  D. 

After appalling surgery in 1977 I was left with a condition which left me able to do only light work  (from which I had to retire even earlier than anticipated) & which exempted me from  all prescription payments.  I lived in the West Country for 25 years during which time I experienced that number of winters (including being snowed-in for 2 weeks) and  I had to have fires, boilers, heating appliances in use from October round to the following May.  I seem to remember that it was the West Country that was sighted as the “levelling post” in terms of temperatures which deemed the cessation of w.f.payments to many  and which is why I mention the fact.  When I was 60 I moved to Sthn Spain  for my health which, I have to say, has improved.  However,  I still cannot go without indoor warmth in the winter months here, and living in the foothills of the mountains (but only 220 mtrs above sea level yet I was higher than that in the West Country!) still requires me to have fires during our winter months for my comfort and health.  It should also be recognised that one´s body becomes acclimatized to the heat of summer and consequently feels the cold even more so.  I buy my winter fuel supply of burning logs during the summer when they are cheaper, but one lorry load still costs me €350 so the absence of my winter fuel allowance is a severe loss to my well-being.

15 –  30/08/2015 SM

Writing to the MP.   I hope I can rely on your Support, as you know my circumstances here are not ideal renting a poorly maintained property, costing me a fortune in heating bills, €2,700 € in diesel heating fuel from March 2014,and My electricity bill has recently been  increased to €130 pm, I've had to have electric heating on in evenings these last few days, due to one of my health conditions, autoimmune Thyroiditis, now turned to Hashimoto's,  of which feeling cold is one symptom. I am now just 68 this month, poor health and dreading the winter here, but powerless to do anything, except write to you in hopes of saving my WFA, and say every little helps! 

16 – 5/09/2015 FM

We are pensioners on a very low State pension of around £800 a month which is about half the suggested amount required to live a comfortable life here in France.We need to heat our property from September through to May. The average temperatures here in the Charente are 4.5 degrees during the cold winter months, which are below that of the south of England. Our house temperature does not go above 20 degrees during the winter and we have struggled to keep warm in previous winters.

17  -  15/09/2015 Copied from a comment on the AngloInfo forum

http://loire.angloinfo.com/forum/viewtopic/35950/0/winter-fuel-allowance/18

We can't vote after 15 years so we don't count.  Shame on them I say.   As for me, well my husband is suffering from cancer and last winter we needed the heating on 24/7 because he'd lost so much weight he couldn't keep warm.  That extra bit of cash helped a great deal.  I know it's not a lot, and having it withdrawn won't stop me burning the extra oil this winter to keep him warm..  But as folks who are below the tax threshold it did make a difference. 

18 -11 December 2015 I am appalled to learn that Ian Duncan Smith has stopped the Winter Fuel Payment for this  year. 2015- I only got last year’s on 9th March this year which left us in dire straits.

I am sitting in the house in a heavy coat typing this as we have NO HEATING and the house is freezing.

I cannot remember the exact degrees government say you need to sit in and bedroom a couple of degrees lower but I found in the UK with housing benefit that you could spend whatever you liked on TV and Internet but to keep warm or eat - NO WAY.

I am a British citizen and 71yrs old- chronically ill - I get bronchitis which turns to pneumonia- hopefully this year it won't as I have been given a pneumonia vaccine for the first time.

My son is only 36yrs old and chronically ill due to being assaulted in the UK and as he suffers with diabetes and epilepsy he feel the cold terribly and is prone to bronchitis.

It is ridiculous to say we don't need heat- it is freezing here at the moment and has been like this for a week- rain and dampness to top it all.

As the European Court found in our favour surely this is going against EU rules  

The effects of a Brexit

         On British Citizens in other States of the European Union.

1.  The effect of a Brexit could be alarming.  The following are possibilities.  One cannot say anything is certain - indeed the uncertainty is the most unsettling aspect.

At root all Britons without dual nationality would become foreigners in the EU State in which they live. As foreign as Americans, or Brazilians or from anywhere else.

Any protection enjoyed  under EU law would cease.

In consequence for those who are retired - The existing EU regulation which protects receipt of UK State pensions and benefits would cease to have effect.  [The Winter Fuel Payment ( an OLD_AGE benefit under EU law) restriction is currently being challenged legally. Following a Brexit, it could not even be challenged!]  - e.g. potential receipts of attendance allowance or any other social benefits from the UK would stop. The UK would have the power to modify the receipt of State pensions in Europe and even freeze them - i.e stop annual increments.  Clause 20 of The Pension Act 2014 specifically allows for this (annual rises can be stopped for pensioners resident abroad).

States have the power to impose any law of their own on 'foreigners' i.e in this case of Brexit, British Citizens, without constraint from the EU - what laws, for example?  There was a time (pre EU)  when France taxed capital being brought into the country.  The current challenge brought about by a Dutchman ( M. de Ruyter) which has challenged the imposition of CSG etc (social taxes) might not apply to the non-EU citizens.  France etc. could impose any law it wished on non-EU citizen held bank accounts. 
Conversely, there was a time when one could take out only a small sum of money from the UK, the amount was entered in the pages of the passport (M.Thatcher changed that rule).  One can scorn such suggestions, but there would be no protection from the EU regulations, which would not apply.

*******************

You could not vote for your local Commune Councillors. One could not be a commune councillor.  [The current system whereby one cannot vote for any other level of the legislature would never be changed - If  the UK remains in the EU then such changes could at some time be achieved - but never if the UK  leaves.]

You could not vote for an MEP.  The existing EU law which entitles you to vote for an English speaking MEP is prevented for many of us because we have not a VOTE under UK law. [Again change is very necessary but it will never happen if the UK leaves.]
 

At present one can easily order goods from the UK.  This freedom could stop - At present some idiotic organisations in the UK put difficulties in the way by, for instance, refusing to honour your credit card.  This is contrary to the spirit of EU regs. It should be changed but it never will if Brexit happened.
There would be nothing to prevent the imposition of French duty on imported goods from the UK.
Again the UK financial institutions are not honouring the EU regs on freedom of movement of capital and services by not allowing one to open a UK onshore bank account or investing in certain accounts and saving opportunities - Again these activities, although not happening should happen but if Brexit comes, there is very little chance of it ever getting sorted. It is another instance of the the UK dragging its heels on EU matters.

The inheritance law changes which have come about under EU rulings, whereby nationals could have they inheritance following the rules of their Nation State. could be scrapped.  The UK has shown itself not that keen on the changes.
****
One would need some form of residency card. 
Freshly arrived citizens would need to prove they are financially solvent or they won't get a residency card.
 

The SI system of health support for retired people from the UK would cease.  At the moment every item of medical treatment for an SI holder which would be paid by the French State as to a French Citizen is sent to the NHS for reimbursement.  Indeed every centime.  Similar rules apply in all EU States. I sought information on this and had an itemised report on my own treatments sent to me from London.  i.e. it is very likely that this health support would cease.  One might well need full health insurance cover. Without EU protection all is uncertain.
 

The CPAM Carte Vitale could well be withdrawn - unless you have paid or are paying into the system, or been resident for some time, i.e. normally working.  At the moment new younger residents [and early retirees] arriving from the UK get two years grace and then the Carte vitale is removed if they have not established themselves in some form.
It could be that in the case of a Brexit that as one would have been an established permanent resident for a number of years, then one might be accepted for such a reason to continue in the system of the Resident State without the financial support from the UK.  That would be expensive for the Resident State Such a State may seek different ways of getting some form of financial compensatory support - who can say?
 

Some form of work permits would be needed for younger people who seek work or wish to set up their own businesses. Remember they would be foreigners.

British Students can at present get support to study in EU universities [The Erasmus Scheme]. That would cease.
 

The passports would need to be changed.  Border controls between the UK and Europe could well be tightened in both directions.
Then one asks, what be the effect on the many tens of thousands of French citizens and others living in London and neighbourhood? That must be worrying them.

Lastly one asks what nuance of change of attitudes between our French (or other) neighbours and ourselves could appear?  - Who knows - Think of our children in French schools,  or employers of British Citizens, or the fonctionnaires (civil servants).

The EU surely needs to change but it is up to us to help the EU evolve.  It won't be possible if Brexit comes about.

2....I am asked -- Do I see any advantages for the residents in the UK?
A stability in the population possibly?  Even that is far from sure.  There would be a hope that pressure on housing, schools, the NHS might ease.
But when we see pictures of Romanian 'immigrants' working in hop fields or pulling leeks in Lincolnshire - how many are truly permanent immigrants? 
Looking at the French in London - French schools exist there; they are young and not so likely to have great demands on the NHS - except perhaps the maternity services.  These are slightly cynical remarks but the demography of the migrant movements are different between the nationalities. 
It is a most dreadfully complicated situation.  I suspect that for many people, possibly with little understanding. immigration in Britain is confusing - the Pakistani/Indian influx is confused with European Romanian influx and the refugee crisis and the EU gets blame where it is not guilty. Much of the immigration is the consequences of actions by the UK Governments.  Greater control of about 50% of the migrants is possible because they are not Europeans.
3. Some claim that under the the terms of the Vienna Convention on International Treaties between States concerning 'Acquired Rights' that all  European expats would be protected. BUT-- France has not signed to that treaty, and neither it seems has the EU. The EU is not a State but a co-ordination structure between States of the Union.
Here are points of view from two lawyers who have been informally consulted.

---How would an acquired right be defined in this context e.g. would an expat Brit have an acquired and vested right of residency if he/she had lived three months/three years/five years or longer in the another EU country?  When would reciprocal healthcare rights be acquired and vested?

How would you enforce rights under the Vienna Convention - which courts?  Unlike EU law, the Vienna Convention does not create direct rights that can be invoked by individuals. 

The EU regulations  are not treaties but co-ordinating measures between States. The Vienna Convention is only concerned with rights acquired under treaties.---

 
If the 69,000 retired brits in France (about 450,000 reside in other EU States) returned it would have a major effect on the UK economy - you can imagine the difficult situation both for the returnees and certain public services. 
 

I suspect that it is in the interest of the UK economy to encourage more retired people to leave for Europe, and to actively foster their support.
 

Reduction  of the freedom of European movement and of European services will not benefit any existing resident in the UK - quite the reverse.
The concepts of 'controlling our borders' or 'making our own laws' is to some degree misleading.  The UK makes 83% of its own laws entirely concerned with governance of  the UK.   The EU Commission makes regulations which concern the co-ordinated economy and social life of  a developing Europe not detailed laws on the internal management of the UK or any other State.
 

Internationally minded industrial firms are spreading across the EU - French firms in Romania - Even French firms in the UK like EDF.  A Brexit,  could isolate Britain. The stock market values of many European firms are doing reasonably well, though wobbling about in the current global economic crisis.  Ones which are chiefly UK based are not any better and even  oscillating more coarsely.
 

If Brexit occurred no doubt some sort of patchwork lawmaking would occur to alleviate the pain for some of us.  It could be that if Brexit does not occur, then it is possible that some form of  'closer union' will occur. The UK might even adopt the Euro in say 50 years or sooner.  But for success, the people will have to take a much greater interest in electing wise and intelligent politicians (statesmen) to the European parliament and national governments to make it all work. There needs to be a closer dialogue between the citizens and the politicians at European level.  Oddly in the UK the close link between the MPs and the citizen, via 'surgeries' is most valuable and tends to be much more vague under the Euopean system of electing 'teams' and 'lists'.
Democracy will have to spread much more widely through the EU migrant and indigenous populations. There are millions who have migrated around the EU, all EU citizens. Few of them and above all the British citizens are adequately represented by any government.

The Drawbridge Effect --- The Future for others
As for future generations of British Citizens wishing to work or live in other EU States, the drawbridge of a Brexit may have been drawn up and they will not be able to avail themselves of the advantages of which some of us had been able to enjoy. Pensioners would be impeded for financial reasons from retiring to live in EU States. Younger citizens would be impeded in seeking work, and even more so in establishing new enterprises  or studying in such States.

Two years of Grace?
There would be two years after a Brexit were announced in which re-organisation is achieved.  That suggests that nothing much would occur in that period.

Liars - Damned Liars and benders of the truth - & the Department of Work & Pensions

There are Liars, Damned Liars, and the manipulation of statistics 
by the UK Dept of Work & Pensions

encouraged by the Daily Mail

THE WINTER FUEL PAYMENT

Truth about Winters in Europe –

British Elderly Citizens in Europe are Cold. Cold cold…..

“Just as I was yesterday, I am typing Emails sitting up in bed. I am  fully clothed in three jumpers, two pairs of trousers and a track suit.  My dear husband, similarly dressed, is tucked up beside me

“I am having to survive on my pension of £5300 per year. I have several friends here who all get the allowance (THE WFP) – note she did not.

“when we arrived in France aged 60, we were in good health.  However, as the years go on, many of us are beset by various illnesses and the frailty of old age.  I have had several operations and many investigations in hospital for various internal and ophthalmic problems.  My husband had a hip replacement three years ago and two other operations since then.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer a year ago, for which he is being treated with chemotherapy.   I am, of course, at the age of 77, his only carer.  To read more go to http://www.lefourquet.net/Hardup-dossier.doc

France and Spain and of course the rest of Europe are frequently colder than Britain in Winter . Britain ‘enjoys’ the warming effect of the Gulf Stream

See this map for 3.00 a.m. on the 30^th December 2014

(map complied at the Climate Unit- the University of Maine – published every day)

What follows is an edited form of a deeper analysis of the manipulation by the DWP, of the true statistics by a colleague Roger Boaden – The original is here www.lefourquet.net/HOT&COLD.docx

The untruths of the Dept of Work and Pensions.

The DWP claim that France and Spain are HOT countries in the winter!

The Daily Mail reports and relishes, nay even gloats over the plight of British Citizen Pensioners in France and Spain  - visit www.lefourquet.net/DailyMailWFP12-14.docx

How the DWP promotes its untruths.

The UK’s Met Office produced a report (Dec 2012) for the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), which listed temperatures for the countries identified above, as follows:

Ireland:                  5.5°C  

United Kingdom:    4.1°C               SW England:    5.6°C  

Italy:                      5.7°C  

France:                  4.9°C

France after

      Adjustment:      7.0°C   + including tropical island temperatures from Caribbean & Indian Ocean

Spain:                    7.2°C

Spain after

      Adjustment:      7.3°C   + including the archipelago of the Canary Islands

[NOTE WELL -- all of the above listed temperatures fall below 8°C]

This figure of 8.0°C is significant. A UK Government publication, ‘Cold Weather Plan for England 2014’ states the following:  ‘…. the negative health effects of cold weather start to occur at relatively moderate mean outdoor temperatures (5-8°C depending on region), and days at these temperatures occur much more frequently than days where the temperature is 2°C or less.’  And then the Cold Weather Plan goes on to say:  ‘Heating your home to at least 18°C is particularly important if you have reduced mobility, are 65 and over, or have a health condition, such as heart or lung disease. Having room temperatures slightly over 18°C could be good for your health.’

So how come some countries have been declared ‘Hot’?

The statements in above cited official UK Government Publication are clear - if you have outdoor temperatures of less than 8°C, then you need indoor heating to the level of 18°C!  That same assessment concerning risks to health must surely be applicable for ALL British Pensioners wherever they may live!

Not it seems, a view shared by the DWP!  Ministers have declared France and Spain as ‘hot’ countries where elderly British Pensioners do not need heat during the winter months.  The word ‘hot’ is just not true. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, have both made statements concerning the Winter Fuel Payments, which said: “… people in hot countries will no longer get it. It is, after all, a payment for winter fuel.”  How do you heat a home without winter fuel?  The elderly in France and Spain and further off in Europe need winter heating!

So, how is Winter defined?

The DWP decided that the temperatures they have used, had to be based on their definition of winter of 1 November to 31^st March - 151 days - instead of the normal definition of winter, which is recognised right across the World as December to February (DJF) - 90 days. One quarter of the year

DWP has classified as ‘hot’ an average winter temperature of 7.0°C covering the complete period of 151 days.  In order for such a level of average temperatures to be realised, there will be many days on which temperatures fall well below that level of 7.0 degrees during five months!  And, as a direct consequence, the overall average is in fact increased, making it appear warmer.

What lies behind this decision of the DWP?

Is it not obvious, that the policy objective of Iain Duncan Smith, was to remove Winter Fuel Payments from the maximum possible number of British Pensioners. British Pensioners are British Pensioners, wherever they may live, and they should all be treated in exactly the same way, and with an equality of care!

British Expat Pensioners are a far too easy a target for Ministers to attack, and we can see from the sustained policy over a period of two years, how Ministers and officials sought to denigrate them.  Newspapers like the Daily Mail have been only too happy to run headlines which poke fun and sneer at those who have chosen to live in places which will give them a few more hours of sunshine in their twilight years.  And anyway, not all British Pensioners live on the Mediterranean - the majority live inland and with substantive regional differences, they experience some pretty severe weather from time to time.  Iain Duncan Smith and his colleagues at the DWP have used, what can only be described as a deceitful and cruel policy, to achieve their objectives!

As a result, they have breached the rights of British citizen choosing to live elsewhere in the European Union, under the EU Regulation 883/2004, and are in contravention of Judgments of the CJEU in Newton (C-356/89) and in Stewart (C-503/09).

This is discrimation against British Citizens on the basis of falsified country wide average temperatures (achieved especially in the case of France by incorporating temperatures of tropical islands).  A temperature discrimination is not used for residents in the UK.  Therefore there is no uniformity of treatment across the EU for the British Pensioner citizen.   The UK Government is grossly discriminating in its treatment of its own nationals.  That many who reside in upland and inland areas of several countries are left to go without.  They appear to be of no concern to the British Government.

What  can you do to help – Tweet or retweet this.   http://www.lefourquet.net/Liarsetc.doc

Tweet to Matt Chorley the author of the Daily Mail article.  @MattChorley

Post on Facebook.

Write to or send this item to  your MP addresses are at

                                       http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/

To the DWP [Iain Duncun Smith] – ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

To an MEP.   https://www.mysociety.org/contact-your-meps

As a guide to find MPs and MEPs use your last post code in the UK.

The Winter Fuel Payment - for all (?) British European Pensioners

To  go the the start and the INDEX click here

The Saga of the Winter Fuel Payment

The attached letter (which see) was sent from the DWP to one of the correspondents of 'pensioners debout!'.
The very elderly couple who received this letter left Britain on retirement to France before 1998.  They have not received the WFP  because it did not exist at the time when they moved. The DWP have up to now claimed that under EU law only those who received it before leaving the UK should receive it!  The letter shows that the DWP is now thinking differently.
I know that this payment will help this couple immensely. 
This accomplishment results from the endeavours of David Burrage co-founder of the Spanish Expatriates Association. http://www.ukgovabusesexpats.co.uk/
My efforts have been minimal and I give all honour to those who can tackle  these matters.  I report the result.

If you would have received the WFP if you were living in the UK, then apply - all contact details are on the letter  head. The phone number is ++44 191 21 87777 if it is not clear to read. 
Link on the letter to enlarge it and to return press escape.
ALSO - if you know (as I do) of retired brits who do not possess a computer and who also do not receive the WFP then talk to them and tell them.  There are quite a few who desperately need this cash and have no idea that they are losing out.
***************
Further - 'Representation' The kind of progress above does not come without effort (we used to say 'with the milk').  It depends on people standing up for what is morally just!
Forces powered by journals like The Sun, The Mail and certain narrow thinking politicians act against our interest.  Without treaties signed between the UK  and the EU none of us could live freely in other European countries. The expatriate needs a dialogue with the home Government.  Gradually 'petit à petit' the UK has to take a full role in Europe.
It is for this reason vitally important that expatriates have full Representation to the British Government.  Please search the Index for postings on this topic and to discover what you can do.
look at.....
http://pensionersdebout.blogspot.com/2012/08/campaign-for-representation-vote-for.html
and to add your vote and comments go here>>   www.votes-for-expat-brits.com
There are only a handful of people who are extremely active in any of these causes. They need the support of  the many Britons abroad.
There comes a time when all must stand against the antipathetic forces and stand for justice.  So that Britain can truly claim to be a democratic State and we Britons can hold our heads high and say 'we are proud to be British'.

I Accuse

To go to the beginning and index  click here

 (Update 2013 - This article was written in 2012 - The winter of 2012/13 was much the same with an average minimum temperature of 1.8 degrees near Cahors, with some nights to minus 5. Yet the British Government claim that we are warmer than Torquay.)

The terrible weather which came to us in France last February; was it so unusual?  Some elderly Britons in particular who retired to the Continent suffered.  But were they worse off than those who stayed in Britain?  Is the winter climate at its worst, worse than any in Britain?  The answer is, ‘yes’. 

The conditions of last February brings to mind the novel ‘Jacquou le Croquant’.  It opens in the setting of a terrible winter of the early 19^th century when people died of cold in their hovels.  The snow lay deep and the wolves bayed in the Dordogne countryside as even then, [at that time even], after Napoleon and after the French Revolution, the peasants were as ill treated as before.  It was as though nothing had changed and the peasants still had to fight against the tyranny of the landed gentry. Plus ça change, la plus c’est la même chose! The Government was stubborn, and the winter was Siberian as it was this last winter.

Should the British Government have any concern for British Citizens Abroad? Yes of course.  For those who live in Europe the principle of ‘freedom of movement’ should prevail.  But the British Government resists supporting the retired Briton Abroad.  And some are in consequence deficient in funds.

My thoughts turn to another French author, Zola. He felt deeply for those unfairly treated.  In January 1898 it was he who threw down the two words ‘J’accuse’ in the journal Aurore when he challenged the French Government over the case of Dreyfus, a Jewish soldier who was unfairly convicted of treason.  Zola brought shame to the Government for its stubbornness and ill thinking .

Governments and tyrannies will not change unless they are forced to do so.  We fondly imagine that we live in a democratic and reasoning society in Western Europe. It is more fondly felt than fact. Democracy does not exist for the Britons Abroad.  The British Government denies it to them.

Times may not be as harsh as in the 19^th century but elements of crass stupidity and deafness to the needs of the people are still with us.  These are matters to which we who live in Europe should attend.  The British Government, which we all would like to perceive as a bastion of democracy, is as stubborn and as deaf as any.

It is deaf to the cries of the Britons Abroad that they should be recognised.  It is deaf to the cries of the elderly Briton Abroad  that their needs should be recognised.

Let me borrow the words of Zola. I accuse the British Government of indifference towards its citizens abroad.   How truly difficult it is for any such citizen to stand up for himself.  How difficult it is for the citizen who is eighty five years old.  How impossible when the citizen is cold and deficient in funds. How difficult it is when opinions of Britons at home are manipulated by the media  against him. 

In the eyes of many in Britain today, the Briton who dares to live abroad is dishonoured at home.  We have Lord Lipsey who dares to say that the Briton Abroad should never be represented in Parliament.  We have governments who sign to treaties in Europe which guarantee that the elderly Briton who retires to Europe will receive the same consideration from the British Government as those who remain at home.  But in the outcome, they are deprived of income and support which those who stay at home might enjoy.  The winter fuel payment which all the elderly enjoy in Britain has not been received by the most elderly of  the British Citizens in Europe.  It was first introduced as a supplement for the elderly but it was refused to those who had retired abroad.  The Pensioner in Europe cannot make his feelings felt through the ballot box because the government has not granted to him the permanent citizen’s right to vote.

Lord Lipsey again says that such pensioners have no part to play in the economy of Britain.  Yet their pensions and much of their expenditure is demonstrably part of the British Economy.  The same British Economy prevents these pensioners opening bank accounts in Britain.  The attitude against the pensioners is further hardened by articles in the press illustrating the pensioners sunning themselves on the sunny summer shores of Spain.  In Barcelona it was minus 7 overnight this February. Most of Europe  freezes every winter, this year worse than is usual.  In Central Italy eighty centimetres of snow fell.  In Central France in February 2012 we suffered the same climate that Jacquou suffered in 1815.

The summer sun does not allay the winter's frosts.   
Successive nights last February brought temperatures of minus ten.  Numbers of British elderly residents suffered from shortage of cash, frozen pipes and a cold heartless Government, too mean to care for its elderly citizens – too mean to even grant them the natural rights of any citizen.  It is too mean to grant them a voice.

This stubbornness of the British Government is felt across the world.  Imagine the elderly couple whose children have set up home in distant Australia.  The parents would like to join them in their last few decades of life.  They are deterred because the British Government would freeze their State pensions and as the years roll by they would become poorer and poorer. 

The cold heart of Britain’s Governments is felt most severely by those who have given so much for Britain in their working lives and still remain ambassadors for British grit and determination, without the support of their Nation’s Government.