Heating Allowance in Europe

moorlikeit I do wonder at the many people who choose to blame the education system and teachers for all the problems we face - such a cheap and uninformed blame game

I wasn’t seeking to blame teachers for society’s ills at all. That would be like blaming doctors and nurses for the failings of the NHS. But I do think that there is too much emphasis in the school system on examinations & results & this isn’t healthy for children or what real education should be about.
I agree with Allira that teaching standards and moral values has to come from both home and school.

Goldencity

I live in France (moved just before Brexit) and we do not get the WFA as France is deemed “too warm” (when the overseas departments are taken into consideration.
We do not get any benefits from the UK apart from our state pension, which we have paid NI for once we were in our teens.

Don’t believe everything you read in the papers!

I second this, it is correct. We're in France and we DONT get the Winter Fuel Payment because France is considered too warm.
I object to my UK state pension being described as a "benefit" at all because I paid for it with NI earning every penny of it through working my arras off for the best part of 45 years , full time , in a stressful job.
We pay tax in England and in France on all our income so we are still , as are many people on this platform, funding everyone's "benefits".
We are not wealthy people. We have only ever been middle income people.

PS I don't object to paying my due taxes and funding benefits just I am sick of pensioners being represented as burdens, takers and freeloaders.
Between us my husband and I have worked for nearly 100 Years!!!!!

So if I decide to retire to Europe in a few years. Best to choose a hot part of Italy and not Iceland incase the UK winter fuel allowance is stopped.
Also I don't think the poster Maddyone talks small minded drivel. Minds can be opened by travel to dozens of destinations around the world without the need to live in say France or Spain.

Labradora

PS I don't object to paying my due taxes and funding benefits just I am sick of pensioners being represented as burdens, takers and freeloaders.
Between us my husband and I have worked for nearly 100 Years!!!!!

just I am sick of pensioners being represented as burdens, takers and freeloaders

It's par for the course when the economy is allegedly sporting black holes and governments are looking around for scapegoats in order to avoid scrutiny or accountability for their ideologically imposed economic policies.

Intergenerational 'unfairness' sits well with the working population - especially those on low incomes who have to fork out exorbitant rents and / or costly child-care fees.

They know that each generation supports the pensions of the one above it, but nevertheless there is talk - "well, you didn't pay enough then to support your lifestyle now", sort of thing. Which, if that is true, would not be the fault of the current pensioners anymore than it will be true when the complainants become pensioners themselves and are accused similarly.

An ageing population is not a sudden surprise event, but governments do like to present the issue as one that is unaffordable. But then, long-term planning doesn't win favour with an electorate already suffering years of grim austerity. As Starmer is about to find out. Those who are already impoverished are fearful, and those with modest savings who have in fact worked hard, scrimped and gone without, wonder if it was worth the effort as, by comparison, they are considered to be rich and on their shoulders, as the "better off", they will bear a huge brunt of the burden. The only individuals who will not be affected are the very very wealthy who will, apparently, up sticks and leave the country if they are expected to fork out more in taxes.

It's the same old, same old. Prior to the economic crisis 2008 the narrative was all about our "poor pensioners", and since then, we have morphed into greedy retirees who have at least one new car in the driveway and take a minimum of two luxury holidays per year.

DIVIDE ET IMPERA.

escaped

So if I decide to retire to Europe in a few years. Best to choose a hot part of Italy and not Iceland incase the UK winter fuel allowance is stopped.
Also I don't think the poster Maddyone talks small minded drivel. Minds can be opened by travel to dozens of destinations around the world without the need to live in say France or Spain.

and not Iceland
They use geothermal water for heating their homes etc, which I think is quite cheap.

Hi escaped, I’m sitting in the airport in Miami at the moment, on route to the Galapagos for a week. You’re right, travel does broaden the mind. I’m lucky enough to have travelled widely and have never felt the need to actually live anywhere else other than Britain. Some people choose to live abroad and this sometimes comes with financial penalties, but obviously anyone who lives abroad as a pensioner considers this before they move. It’s their choice, just as it is mine to continue to live in the UK. Wherever we choose to live we must accept the limitations and the rewards of that choice.

It seems to be a topic on which people choosing to live in Spain or similar are over-sensitive to criticism. Like the proverbial hitting a raw nerve.

Travel to different destinations broadens the mind hugely. Your trip to the Galapagos sounds amazing for new experiences Maddyone. It would be interesting to hear about it on your return.

escaped

It seems to be a topic on which people choosing to live in Spain or similar are over-sensitive to criticism. Like the proverbial hitting a raw nerve.

Travel to different destinations broadens the mind hugely. Your trip to the Galapagos sounds amazing for new experiences Maddyone. It would be interesting to hear about it on your return.

Just out of interest escaped, why should we be criticised in the first place? I still haven't seen any explanation on here of the reasons why some people think UK pensioners who live abroad should be treated differently.

I still haven't seen any explanation on here of the reasons why some people think UK pensioners who live abroad should be treated differently

Having googled, I don't think there is an explanation as such, it's just been like that since the inception of Pension Credit.

Certainly anyone who goes to live in Australia has their pension fixed at the amount it was when they left the UK.
I'm not sure if they get the WFA or not.

@ mamie
I think the criticism probably stems from the fact some ex-pats dish out criticism of their own country and countrymen. They make out that we all lead terrible lives here in the UK. That we are narrow-minded.
I don't think life is better in new pastures. Just different. I guess it's the sometimes superior and defensive attitude which draws criticism. That sort of self-congratulatory frame of mind. Not in my new backyard stuff.
From your post on here though you do not appear to have chosen to do that @ mamie.

escaped

@ mamie
I think the criticism probably stems from the fact some ex-pats dish out criticism of their own country and countrymen. They make out that we all lead terrible lives here in the UK. That we are narrow-minded.
I don't think life is better in new pastures. Just different. I guess it's the sometimes superior and defensive attitude which draws criticism. That sort of self-congratulatory frame of mind. Not in my new backyard stuff.
From your post on here though you do not appear to have chosen to do that @ mamie.

I would describe myself as a migrant rather than an expat. We live in Normandy, very similar to the south of the UK in terms of countryside and climate. We have close family and friends in the UK.
I would certainly criticise some of the decisions of some UK governments of the past years, but I would never make blanket criticisms of the country.
I teach English on a voluntary basis and try to pass on my love of the English language and British culture to my students. I will always be British in France, but I also hope that I can be counted as Normande.
I do agree that some people arrived in the early part of the century (possibly tempted by A Place in the Sun) and were a bit prone to criticising the country they had left. I don't think many of them stayed very long.
I think there are a lot of stories around the attitudes "expats", but it certainly isn't true of the people I know here.

Mamie

escaped

It seems to be a topic on which people choosing to live in Spain or similar are over-sensitive to criticism. Like the proverbial hitting a raw nerve.

Travel to different destinations broadens the mind hugely. Your trip to the Galapagos sounds amazing for new experiences Maddyone. It would be interesting to hear about it on your return.

Just out of interest escaped, why should we be criticised in the first place? I still haven't seen any explanation on here of the reasons why some people think UK pensioners who live abroad should be treated differently.

Just out of interest escaped, why should we be criticised in the first place?

Good question Mamie.

I've seen comments on GN and other SM sites when this topic is raised where the criticism is inferred but not directly stated - a subtle insinuation that the person who's chosen to live in another country is somehow unpatriotic and therefore should have no further rights.

That's probably why it appears they have raw-nerves. They know they are being 'got at' - goaded - but can't respond to veiled criticism without appearing over-sensitive.

Yes I think that is true Dickens and I also think the people criticising are sometimes a bit unclear about what their critcism is actually about.
We certainly aren't totally out of touch with everyday life in the UK, as we are pretty permanently connected these days through print, televisual and social media. I would say we see more of family and friends across the UK than when we lived there, because of regular online catch-ups over a glass of wine!
I also think the whole "expat" thing has been unhelpful and has certainly been stirred up by the media. Fair to say Brexit didn't help either.