This ongoing legal challenge is heading toward its final stages with a two-hour hearing that will take place in the Strasbourg court on Wednesday; however, final judgement in the case will not be made until April 2010. Andrew Harrop, (head of Public Policy for Age Concern and Help the Aged), said: “It’s hugely unfair that pensioners who have made their national insurance contributions all their lives in the UK are being penalised for retiring abroad and losing out on the uprating of their pension. We hope the case today will see an end to this inequality and ensure the government gives every pensioner their fair share, no matter where they decide to retire.”

Annette Carson emigrated in 1989 to work in South Africa and continued to make full contributions to her UK state pension. On retirement in South Africa in 2000 she began to receive her pension payments, however since then, the UK authorities have frozen the level of payments at £67.50 a week. Her case was taken through the UK court system (including the House of Lords) where it was rejected. Carson and other campaigners from countries such as Australia and Canada feel that the UK rules unfairly discriminate against them as well as nearly half a million other expatriate UK pensioners. Mr Poole remains optimistic and claims that “the discrimination against us is not based on any degree of logic.” He feels that the case is strong and that annual upratings of the UK state pension are paid to recipients living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, as well as countries where there are reciprocal social security agreements such as the US, Jersey, Guernsey and Turkey. South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Canada are countries where pension payments to expats are frozen.