AN ARMED FORCES VETERAN'S REFLECTIONS
There are two classes of old age pensioners today in the
Isle of Man, i.e. those who receive the basic State Retirement Pension of
£90.70 and those who receive one and a half times this amount of
£136.05 due to the payment of an additional sum by a locally awarded Isle
of Man Pension Supplement.
The original funding of the Isle of Man Pension Supplement was possible because
of funds sent here by the UK Government for its UK Old Age Pensioners. Both
groups paid exactly the same NI contributions during their working lives.
A reciprocal agreement governing NI payments and benefits is similar in either
jurisdiction. The poorer group consist largely of ex UK nationals, former war
and armed services veterans and indigenous Manx born who have spent a
considerable portion of their working lives, due to wartime conscription or
island poor economic circumstances, in the UK or elsewhere before returning to
the Isle of Man to retire - an arrangement which the Manx Government encouraged
by UK newspaper adverts and their London Office in the 1960's/70's/80's.
The Manx Government, although proud to chronicle its nationhood, has chosen to
marginalize one fifth of its old age pensioner population by the deprivation of
state financial aid given to others. They are and have been well informed of
this injustice but choose not to alter it.
Misinformation, misunderstanding, factual inaccuracy coupled with a degree of
prejudice and ignorance exists, both in Government and public perceptions, as
the email received by IOMPA from a Manx Island resident detailed below
indicates (reproduced in full).
Dear sirs
I have been following your campaign regarding the pension supplement that you
think youhave a right to. I have spent all of my working life (so far) on the
Island and have paid into a pension fund since i was 16, yet the rumblings are
that there will be no pension for my generation at all never mind a supplement!
Why do you feel that the people working today should pay tax to afford you a
pension supplement when you have not contributed anything into it? I dont agree
that people who have contributed for 10 years should get the full supplement,
they should get a percentage and no more. Yes i agree the cost of living is
higher here, but surely you knew that when you moved here?? Do you think by
moving to the Island you have done the Isle of Man any favours? You buy houses,
pushing prices up and making affordable houses near impossible to buy. If you
can move to the Island and afford to pay big money for houses then you shouldnt
need the supplement. Manx people pay their taxes into their childrens futures.
We want them to have the good life that the isle of mann affords them. We are
not here to support people that have not paid into the system. If you cant
afford to live here without the supplement then perhaps you should think about
leaving the Island. As for people born here, if they havent paid their taxes
into the Isle of Man then im sorry, they have to be treated the same as people
from England. I know for sure that if i was to leave the Island and live in
England I wouldnt be afforded any special treatment. I really cant see why you
feel you have the right to this money. My mum only gets part of the supplement
because she only paid a married womans contribution, hence why i feel that
anyone paying ten years should only get a percentage. This is my opinion and i
really dont mean to offend anyone. I felt the need to write although i assume
you are aware of peoples feelings. Yours Julie Smith
This situation represents a massive betrayal of trust that had its
origin in the 1992 legislation. After this date those affected could do nothing
as they were at, beyond or within 10 years of their particular retirement age.
It is not about money held in trust by government for members of its nation,
but simply one of social justice to all its lawful citizens. There is no other
country in Western Europe that chooses to behave in this way towards an old and
vulnerable section of its nation.
It is with great reluctance and sadness that this information is published
"on the net" for general distribution by those who cherish the Isle
of Man and by those senior citizens who recognise and appreciate the values of
fairness and justice that the great majority of the Island's population
acknowledge and respect.