John ... I know you've mentioned your reasons for doing so before. But ... in the present context ... I wonder if you could refresh my memory as to what motivated you MOST to move abroad - and WHY you chose Spain in the end?



OK ... like ME - and every other British male over the age of 65 who has paid National Insurance contributions throughout his working life - YOU'RE entitled to receive the State Pension, . But residing in sunny *Spain all year round you're hardly going to NEED a heating allowance, ARE you? Besides, I imagine the cost of living *there is a damn sight cheaper than it is in the UK. And finally ... for those of us [in Scotland] who cannot afford the upkeep of running a car, the Bus Pass is a real BOON! I ought to add that I'm not sure HOW far the scope of Travel Cards extends South of the Border.[/QUOTE]

I was not so much complaining as pointing out that we are not all treated equally. Thus if the pensioners living in UK are now to be treated more or less the same then why should they complain. Like in your post you clearly don't think those living abroad were/are discriminated against.

For example the fuel allowance. It is not a mean tested allowance thus why shouldn't every pensioner be treated the same. There are people living in Spain (And elsewhere, even RP I would believe) who continue to receive the allowance because they were getting it before they left UK, whilst most do not. No apparent logic there. And the idea that UK pensioners living in other parts of the world are nor subjected to far more extreme weather than those in UK should not be over looked. For example: In Madrid it is far hotter in Summer than the 'dangerously high heat wave' in UK a few weeks ago, thus air con is a must and in winter central heating is a must; the cost of electric is higher in Spain than UK.

As for cheaper here. I am not so sure that on balance, particularly with the ups and downs of the exchange rate, that is so. There are many Brits who can no longer afford to live here, who are flooding back to UK were they will be able to claim allowances. I did make a point a while ago that the UK Gov would be advised to subsidise ex-pats so that they would remain abroad rather than 'encouraging' them to return to Blighty, as the cost to the State in such a case could be a lot higher than a hand out to discourage them.

Why did I choose to live here 22 years ago? Basically the weather. One knows when it is summer and can plan days, weeks ahead to say have a BBQ or go to the beach. With the weather comes other things. People live more outdoors thus we know our neighbours. We can chat with total strangers without appearing odd, thus the social life can be a lot better. Although it was not a factor 22 years ago but the very low level of crime and practically nil level of violent crime is a bonus. No 90 year olds being killed for a few quid and a bus pass pass. No teenager being murdered almost every week. And of course 22 years ago, it was much cheaper to live here than in UK, but as I say that is not so now. If I was living on just my OAP then I would now be back in UK and my wife would be working to keep me. Thankfully I have an addition occupational pension too.