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A Falklands veteran has called on Sir Keir Starmer to end the frozen state pensions scandal. Roger Edwards, 79, who served in the Falklands War, urged the Government to look at the issue again for the British Overseas Territory.

He is one of more than 400,000 British retirees living abroad whose state pensions were frozen from the date they left. His plea comes as a representatives from counties including the Falkland Islands, Canada, Australia and South Africa are taking part in a discussion on the issue in Parliament on Wednesday.

Mr Edwards, a former Royal Marine and Royal Navy officer, moved to the Falklands in 1986 with his wife Norma, a Falkland Islander he met in the UK.

He said: “I paid my national insurance all the time I was in the military and when I left the military I carried on paying my contributions expecting a full pension when I finally retired.

“No one ever told us that it was going to be frozen. It was a bit of a shock when I got a letter saying as your place of residence is now the Falkland Islands it’s going to be frozen.”

Mr Edwards’ state pension has been frozen at just £106 per week and despite his service to the country it is not uprated each year in line with the triple lock as for pensioners living in the UK.

In a message to the Prime Minister, he said: “The nonsense of frozen pensions should be done away with immediately. I know they’re short of money, Britain is broken in many ways and have to borrow to get by. But for the people down here in the Falkland Islands I think they ought to look again.

“I think we in the Falkland Islands they should look again and stop freezing old age pensions for those people who decide to retire to the Falkland Islands. We are British, we carry British passports, we have the full right to vote, the right to work in the UK and everything else. And I think we should have our pensions uprated annually as per everyone else in the UK.”

The policy, which has been in place since 1945, means many British retirees living abroad have their state pension payments frozen at the level they were when they left.

There are agreements with some countries to uprate payments, but most do not have reciprocal arrangements in place.

It comes as diplomats, campaigners and cross-party MPs will take part in a diplomatic roundtable in Parliament on Wednesday.

Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, who is chairing the session, said: “It is highly unusual for Parliament to host this many international partners coming together on a single UK policy issue.

“Frozen pensions have always by definition had an international dimension but what we are seeing now is something different. A coordinated moment where affected countries are engaging collectively, reflecting the growing concern about the policy’s impact on their own countries and their relationship with the UK.

“The purpose of this meeting is to coordinate a shared message to the Government that these countries are ready and willing to find a solution on this.”

Lib Dem MP Tessa Munt added: “This policy is failing British citizens and increasingly embarrassing the UK internationally.

“When British World War Two and Falklands veterans are being left thousands of pounds worse off, through no fault of their own, it is sign that something isn’t right.

“And seeing countries like Australia and Canada openly challenge the UK over this when we need our closest political allies the most, surely suggests that we need to look at this policy differently. The UK can’t keep asking other countries to pick up the tab for a policy that is clearly unfair.”

The session will include a video message from 101-year-old Second World War veteran Anne Puckridge, who lives in Canada and has long campaigned on the issue.

John Duguid, board chair of the End Frozen Pensions campaign, said the roundtable discussion “should be a wake-up call” for the Government.

He said: “This is the moment this issue shifts from being quietly tolerated to impossible to ignore. You have a Falklands veteran telling his story, the Falkland Islands Government represented in Parliament, and some of the UK’s closest allies coming to Parliament to raise the same concern.

“For too long, this policy has been written off as complicated or low priority. But when hundreds of thousands of British citizens are being short-changed and other countries are left to pick up the consequences, it becomes very simple. The UK Government now has a clear choice: fix this, or continue defending the indefensible.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Work and Pensions said: “We understand people move abroad for many reasons, and we provide clear information on how this can impact their finances in retirement.

“Where the UK has a reciprocal agreement, as with the United States and EU member states, pensioners receive annual uprating, however, this does not apply in every country and for those relocating, information is available on the government website.

“This policy has been in place for over 70 years and there are currently no plans to change this.”