From the VAR VILLAGE VOICE _ USE YOUR VOTE!

To go to start of this blog click here

 EXPATS UNITE –

OR ELSE!

I don’t know whether you noticed or not, but there was an interesting headline in newspapers recently, announcing that President Sarkozy was proposing that French Expatriates, those now living and working overseas, should be represented more fully in the French Senate, by their own Deputés.. He was proposing that the French in Britain, at least 400,000 at last count, should have their specific representative, as should also French citizens in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Monaco, Latin America, the US, the Asia Pacific region, the middle East, and Africa.

Not surprisingly the Socialist left howled with rage, denouncing the scheme as “Closet Gerry Mandering” (a hark back to corrupt politics in the UK), further saying “Studies show French people living abroad are more likely to vote for a centre right party than a left wing party.”

Considering that these same expats have likely left the country because of these same left wing, obstructionalist, strike riven, extremely expensive but somewhat unbalanced policies, in order to earn a living, they have a point.

And the hell with Democracy, and the right of everyman to a vote.

However at least the French Socialists had the guts to say it out loud and admit it.

Whereas of course, our own Dear New Lab UK Government has never had the guts to admit that it will do absolutely anything to deny the right to Expatriates to vote.

First of all they limited one’s right to vote in the UK, based on number of years living outside the UK, meantime welcoming thousands, upon hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers, legal or illegal, (and benefit claimants) into the inner cities, their political power base.

You as an Expatriate may well be paying your taxes to the UK, but they will do their utmost to deny you the vote.

And Registering to vote from overseas becomes ever more complicated.

The latest salvo in the campaign, which followed shortly on the most disastrous Budget in modern history, when New Lab, thinly disguised as the newly totally politicised Civil Service, let leash their political heavily overpaid spin meister PR Rottweiler’s on “Benefit Fraudsters” on the Costa Blanca, Costa Money, Spain.

This achieved headlines only on BBC news but very little elsewhere. Why, one wonders.

This heavily mis-targeted salvo left everyone wondering for heaven’s sake, why wasn’t the Dept. of Social Security pursuing the rampant Benefit Fraud – and by god it is rampant all over the UK – back home. Hallo, excuse me, where have you been all these years?

But of course, anything to try and take the attention of what actually was happening back at home, including the hugely rich and disgusting Smeargate scandal straight out of Downing Street, featuring New Lab Rottweilers, Damian McBride and Derek Draper - and those nasty people who live abroad, theoretically in the lap of luxury, all those rich gits, are just sitting targets, right! Never mind that lots of them, in fact most of them, are right minded British citizens, who have paid into the UK systems all their working lives, many of whom still pay tax to the UK.

Therefore, as New Lab reasoning goes, “They are not going to vote for us, therefore find any reason possible to discriminate against them and disenfranchise them.”

Democracy hell!

For example rightful Disability Benefits for Expats. The fight goes on. MP’s like Roger Gale, of Thanet North are fighting tooth and nail on behalf of Expats for their rights.

See below an extract of letter written by Roger Gale to Jonathan Shaw, Minister for Disabled of the Dept. of Works Pensions –which Dept. had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the European Court of Justice and whom ever since have been dragging their feet in executing what the ECJ says is a fair judgment.

“I have to reiterate that it seems to me that the Government is seeking to find every way of avoiding the spirit and to some extent the letter of the findings of the European Court of Justice.

….I want, however, to at this stage take issue with one very specific point made in the second and third paragraphs of the second page of your letter.

I simply cannot accept that it is reasonable for you to assert that “where no appeal was made, decisions made before the ECJ Ruling on the 18th October cannot now be revised because it was not until that court ruling that these decisions were shown to be errors of law”. The fact of the matter is that your decision makers made erroneous decisions that were erroneous in law and passed the finds of those decisions to claimants. Many claimants, not understanding the manner in which these matters work, will have assumed that to appeal would have been pointless and would not therefore at that point have exercised their rights. It was only once the European Court had exercised it’s judgement that many ex-patriot claimants became aware of the fact that they had the right of appeal and lodged those appeals. I believe, therefore, that you are wrong in substance and wrong in law in your assertion. I would ask you to address this single and specific issue immediately and I will revert to you with other matters arising from your letter in due course and once I have sought further opinions.”

Roger gale continued his fight in a letter to the BBC and other UK media following the despicable article (24 April) on benefit fraud in Spain, saying:

“Nobody should condone the abuse of our benefit system, wherever it takes place. The BBC did not need to send a camera crew and reporter on a "freebie" to the Costa del Sol or anywhere else in Spain to uncover instances of benefit fraud. We know that it is taking place on their doorstep in White City and the evidence is to be found using the sports facilities of the country on a daily basis as "disabled" claimants enjoy fresh air and exercise! The fact is that the government has, while making it harder for genuine claimants to receive benefits, signally failed to root out abuse of the system.

“It is a sadness, though, that this report will have distracted attention from the other side of this coin: while there are clearly some UK citizens living abroad and "playing the system" there are others facing illness and genuine hardship that are entitled to assistance that they are being denied.

“The European Court of Justice has ruled that Disability Living Allowance and Carers Allowance, for example, are "exportable" benefits but there is a significant number of UK citizens living within the EU and Switzerland who are finding it difficult if not impossible to claim benefits that they desperately need.

These are not "benefit scroungers". They are people who have, in the main, paid UK taxes throughout their working lives and who have chosen to retire to other countries within Europe. Many of them have served their country in the armed forces or the Foreign and Commonwealth office. They are now growing old and they should be receiving the assistance to which others, arriving in the UK having not paid a penny in UK tax at all, are apparently able to receive automatically.

“I believe that the government, while failing to control benefit fraud, is at the same time seeking to wriggle out of its obligations to a small but significant number of citizens(including some of my own constituents) and that is a disgrace that ought, also, to be highlighted by the UK media."

Re Sarkozy’s idea for MPS for Expats, I raised the idea with Roger Gale, who replied:

“Personally, although I appreciate that a lot of ex-pats would like "their own" MP, I still feel that if the system works as it is supposed to, if overseas voters write to the MP for their last UK address and if that MP then takes responsibility for his/her ex-pat constituents (as I do myself) then there should be no need for another representative. (There are, in fact, about 200 too many MPs in the UK already!)

I cannot influence the Labour party of course but I can and will try to ensure that Conservative MPs - and our candidates for the next election - appreciate the importance of representing their overseas constituents as well as seeking their votes!”

Roger Gale, MP.



So if you want your rights protected, REGISTER TO VOTE! Support your MP.

Distribution to Expat websites.

Anita Rieu-Sicart

EDITOR

VAR VILLAGE VOICE
1142 Route des Miquelets
83510 Lorgues
Tel: 04 94 04 49 60
E: anita@varvillagevoice.com
web: www.varvillagevoice.com

Extract of a letter sent to Mr. Timms MP Financial Secretary to the Treasury

To go to front page click here.
Mr. Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury,
HM Treasury,
1, Horse Guards Road, London,
SW1A 2HQ
"..............
Three teachers all with identical teaching careers (except as described below) and all with the same superannuation payments to the same teachers’ superannuation scheme.
a/. A British citizen, taught in a local authority school
b/. A British citizen, taught in a private school.
c/. A French citizen, taught in a local authority school.

All three retire to France. All require home-help support (this attracts a 50% rebate of the costs against tax in France).

The pensions of b/. and c/. are taxed in France.
The pension of a/. is required to be taxed in the UK as his service is deemed to be ‘to the British Government or local government’ – These are the rules of the Double Taxation Convention between Britain and France.

The taxation burden of a/. is considerably greater than b/. or c/. largely, though not entirely, because the rebates on tax which accrue to the costs of the home help are not available to a/. since his tax is paid to the UK.

------------------
A. I taught 8 years in the private sector and 24 years in the ’state’ sector. Nevertheless all 100% of my pension is taxed in the UK.

Question. Will you agree with me that under the rules one quarter of my pension should be ‘exportable’ to France?

B. Because of the French taxation system vis-à-vis the British imposition of the Double Taxation Convention on my pension, I am at least 1000 euros a year worse off than the retired teachers who fall under category b/. or c/.
Question . Will you agree that this is an inequitable situation?

C. The above heavier tax load could be resolved if I renounced my British nationality and adopted French nationality.

Question. Would you advise me to change my national status to achieve equitability in taxation?
Since your answer to this third (rhetorical) question must surely (?) be ‘no’. Then I must ask you;-
What will you (HM Government) do to ensure that my taxation burden is equitable? ..."

DLA, Attendance or Carer’s Allowances -- Pensioners AND OTHERS who have been deprived of their rights by the action of Whitehall! ACT!

To return to introductory posting of this blog.(Four Concerns)... click

This posting is now out-of -date but is retained for interest. - More recent postings on benefits (see Index) should be read.

On February 24th it seemed that much has been achieved.
Please refer to the Concern 1 links.
The matter still lies in limbo-land.
Read the sterling efforts of Roger Gale M.P.

Letter from Tima Hamilton...
Along with some fellow campaigners, we have decided on an email "bombing campaign" to force the DWP/Exportability Team to sit up and take notice. Here is what we would like people to do:

"For those who adhered to the Exportability Team's advice that "there is no need to contact us again on this matter", may I suggest that this is totally ignored (as we are!) and that all affected parties send an email demanding the reinstatement and back payment of their DLA (care component), Carers or Attendance Allowance in accordance with ECJ ruling C-299/05 of 18 October 2007. NOTE: Make sure that you put the email for the personal attention of: Ms Kettle.

regards Tina Hamilton

You can also refer to the reply made to the House of Commons on 2 February, during questions to the Works and Pensions team, by Ms Rosie Winterton (to MP Roger Gale's question see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u6dE0uETsI), whereby she stated:

"We have been clear that if people claimed the benefit before they moved abroad, they are entitled to continue to claim it."

This statement has been reiterated in a letter to Roger Gale, a copy of which can be downloaded from: http://www.paysansgrigny.com/dla-campaign.html and attached to your email.

The email address (in case you don't have it to hand) is:
EXPORTABILITY.TEAM@DWP.GSI.GOV.UK

In addition, copy the same email to the following two address:

ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
This is the email address for Minister for Pensions, Ms Winterton's office.

dcpu.customer-services@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
This is the email address to make official complaints to in respect to the Exportability Team (and any other DWP department).

When you receive the bog standard excuse from the Exportability Team, send a copy of their reply to with a suitable complaint to the customer services address (line above)."

To find out who is your MEP

[Information from the European Commission]

Consult the European Parliament website at the following address:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu
On the first page, click on your preferred language - English, (bottom line, second item) or French. On the resulting page click on "Your MEPs" (along the top).
A map of the EU will appear. Click on France and a list of MEPs by regional constituency will appear. Clicking on any name will give details of that MEP including an address.
Alternatively, you could certainly find out who your local MEPs are by asking at the nearest Mairie.

The Absurdity of Government Pensions

To go to start of this blog, click here.
Pensions which are ‘deemed’ to be paid by the Government for services rendered are never allowed to be taxed abroad (i.e. exported) in France or Spain or anywhere else in Europe where a Double Taxation Convention exists between the UK and the EU country. That means, as far as I know, all of them.

Strangely NHS pensions are almost all ‘exportable’ even though they are paid by the paymaster general of the UK Government. The NHS staff are presumably not considered as having rendered service to the Government.

Police, Firemen, Military personnel. and civil servants and local Government workers – all are deemed to be paid by the Government or local Government.

If teachers were employed by the local Government then their pensions are not exportable. HOWEVER, if a teacher was employed at a private school, then their pension is exportable, even though it was acquired through exactly the same teachers’ superannuation scheme. If you had worked in both sectors the situation is confused, and quite ridiculous and impossible to disentangle. If you are French or changed your nationality and had worked in any school in Britain, then it becomes once more confused. [Gilbert and Sullivan might have invented it!]
The situation is quite stupid.
For Teachers.
If you are a State sector pensioner you are unfairly treated as things stand. If the French interpreted the Convention in the same manner as the Spanish interpret the UK/Spanish Convention, you would be much better off.
If you are a private sector pensioner, your source of income will be identical but you are (or can be) fairly treated.