APPG on Frozen Pensions: Canadian delegation

I was delighted to meet Canadian MP, Kody Blois, whose wife comes from Kilmarnock and his father-in-law still stays in the town!

Unfortunately, we didn't have more time but it was good to make introductions. He told me, before becoming an MP, he was lucky enough to get a tour of Holyrood with Willie Coffey MSP. Presumably, he has always been interested in politics and that wasn't what inspired him to become an elected MP!

We both attended a roundtable event with the Canadian delegation meeting with members of the APPG on Frozen Pensions. Sadly, more than 125,000 UK (or dual nationals) living in Canada have had their UK pensions frozen at historical levels - even though Canada uprates the pensions of their citizens here.

The Canadian Government have also offered the UK Government to enter into a "reciprocal arrangement' to end this unjust system. We also heard that UK nationals in the United States do receive full uprated pensions. This shows the unfairness of the current pensions policy- if you live on one side of Niagara Falls you get full assistance. On the other side, your pension is frozen relative to when you qualified for it.

On a brighter note, I look forward to keeping in contact with Kody and hopefully will see him on future visits.