Labour MPs say not compensating Waspi women undermines trust in politics
The debate heard from MPs that the decision announced in December, not to compensate the women was a ‘profound misjustice’
Labour MPs have told the Government the decision not to award compensation to women affected by changes in the pension age will undermine trust in politics and would be “abandoning” them.
A parliamentary debate heard MPs had pledged to help women born in the 1950s, whose pension age had risen, to get financial redress during last year’s general election campaign.
Millions of women were affected by the change, first announced in the 1990s, to bring their retirement age in line with men. This was later accelerated under the coalition government, over a decade ago. However, there was a 28-month delay writing to inform them of the changes.
Campaigners, led by the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group, have claimed women suffered financial hardship and had to rethink retirement plans.
A report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) last year recommended the Government pay compensation to women as a result of the delay in them being informed of the changes.
Yet Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told the Commons that the Government would not be offering payments, as it could not afford the £10.5 billion bill.
However Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) told a Westminster Hall debate that the issue was a “profound injustice” for those affected.
Mr Brash said: “The role of a member of Parliament is not to offer unquestioning subservience to their party. When something is wrong, they have a duty to say so.
“I cannot and will not abandon these women. As a candidate I stood beside them, I held their banners aloft, I pledged their support, I told the Waspi women of Hartlepool that I would always stand by them. That commitment does not and must not end with an election.”
He added: “This is not merely about compensation. It is about trust. It is about ensuring that no citizen, no generation feels abandoned by the institutions that are meant to protect them.”
Clapham and Brixton Hill MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said the Government had rightly accepted the Ombudsman’s findings and apologised. However, she added: “What good is this apology if there’s not going to be any steps towards redress?”
Ms Ribeiro-Addy later told MPs: “It goes without saying that the mistake was not one made by this current Government. Blame doesn’t lie at their feet. But the responsibility for redress, unfortunately, does.”
Her Labour colleague Emma Lewell-Buck (South Shields) said: “I know that deciding on compensation will be complicated and costly, but that is not an excuse. It should not be beyond the realms of any parliament or Government to figure this out.”
The watchdog said the women should be paid up to £2,950 each as poor communication meant they had lost out on the chance to plan their retirement finances.
However, in December Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall rejected the PHSO’s recommendation, telling MPs that it could not afford the potential cost and the “vast majority” of women knew the state pension age was increasing. She apologised for the delay in letters being sent out.
Conservative former minister Sir John Hayes (South Holland and the Deepings), who called the Westminster Hall debate, said the women had been betrayed.
Sir John said the decision let down voters’ trust in MPs: “That when we make pledges they’re not empty pledges, they’re meaningful. When that trust is breached and broken, the whole of that legitimacy is undermined. Now that is precisely what has happened in the case of the so-called Waspi women.”
He told MPs that a Waspi woman dies every 12 minutes, on average.
“These statistics mask lives, lives altered, lives damaged, lives restricted by this matter,” he said.
Sir John added: “I hope the minister will recognise the strength of feeling across this house, across this country, that this is an injustice that must be put right in the name of the democratic legitimacy.”
Newly appointed Treasury minister Torsten Bell said: “As custodians of the public purse, we must ensure that decisions are rooted in evidence and fair to everyone.
“The facts remain that the vast majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing, and even for those who didn’t, we know that sending letters earlier would not have made a difference in most cases.”
