WASPI women and MPs pile pressure on Labour ahead of Budget

MPs are once again urging the government not to forget about the women who were historically wronged by changes to state pension age. Ahead of the budget at the end of November, the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign is once again garnering support for the 3.8 million who lost out on the right to retire at 60 – and lost out on financial support as a result.

Labour’s previous failings over WASPI women

Last year, Labour announced that there would be no compensation for the 3.8 million WASPI women born in the 1950s who were financially stranded when the pension age for women leapt from 60-65 in 1995. They were then abandoned and used as a political football by successive governments for decades.

A long line of DWP ministers have also failed these women, promising to fight for them in campaign promises, then kicking them in the teeth when they got into power. Such as Liz Kendall, who posed with WASPI campaigners a couple of years ago:

This Labour Secretary of State is currently stating that her Government will not provide any financial compensation to the WASPI women.

They are shameless. pic.twitter.com/33MCGRCpSC

— Stephen Flynn MP (@StephenFlynnSNP) December 17, 2024

However, when she got into parliament, she ruled out compensation, then blamed the previous government:

The Government does not believe paying a flat rate to all women at a cost of up to £10.5bn would be a fair or proportionate use of taxpayers’ money.

Not least when the previous Government failed to set aside a single penny for any compensation scheme and when they left us a £22bn black hole in the public finances.

This is despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman finding that the DWP had failed to properly communicate the changes to the women who would be effected by changes to state pension age and that WASPIs should be compensated.

MPs stand up for WASPI again

Last week around 100 MPs attended a drop in event in parliament to support the WASPI campaign and call on the government to end the injustice. Though MPs from all parties were invited, it was massively attended by Labour – despite the Labour government denying these women.

This included Labour MP Ian Lavery, who said:

They have my full support and deserve the whole-hearted support from every single Parliamentarian.

Lib Dem MP Marie Goldman pledged her party would keep fighting:

Liberal Democrats will keep pushing the government to properly compensate WASPI women

While Labour Mary Kelly Foy MP said:

These strong and resilient women up and down the UK worked to make our country the wonderful place it is. Don’t let them down. Act now – please

McFadden yet to reaffirm stance, enter Torsten Bell(end)

The current Secretary of State at the DWP Pat McFadden is so far yet to comment on any plans to compensate WASPI women, though he did previously support the campaign in 2017.

During DWP questions this week, McFadden was asked about whether he would stand by the women and support the WASPI campaign. Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed raised that he had previously written to Liz Kendall in July about supporting the women, but had, of course, received no reply.

He said:

With the Government still refusing to engage in civil mediation to deliver justice to the WASPI women, will the new Secretary of State reconsider meeting campaigners to find a just way forward?

However, it wasn’t McFadden that answered, but Torsten Bell(end) decided to step up instead, for some reason:

The previous minister for pensions met representatives of the WASPI campaign in order to hear directly from them about their experiences. She was the first minister to do so in eight years.

What he misses from this is that he’s been the pensions minister since January, so he’s had ample time to meet with campaigners. He concluded:

I will look into the details of the letter the honourable gentleman mentions.

Again, he’s had three months to read this letter; if it was an issue he truly cared about, it wouldn’t have taken this long to even think about engaging with WASPI campaigners.

MP urges McFadden to “do the right thing” over the WASPI campaign

Following this Lib Dem MP Wendy Chamberlain wrote to Pat McFadden, urging him to “do the right thing” and not only meet with the campaigners but listen to them and give them the compensation they deserve.

In the letter she asked three things of McFadden:

1. Engage in immediate, good-faith discussions with WASPI representatives to agree an out-of-court resolution.

2. Announce a fair and transparent compensation scheme in line with the PHSO’s recommendation in the Budget.

3. Allow Parliament the opportunity to debate and vote on the issue so that all MPs can represent the voices of their constituents.

She concluded:

This is not a matter of party politics – it is about fairness, integrity and honouring the commitments made to a generation of women who have been let down by the system. The Government’s refusal to act risks undermining the very authority of the Ombudsman and the trust the public places in Parliament to deliver justice.

Do Labour even know what the right thing is?

For too long, Labour and the Tories have used the plight of these women who lost out on so much because successive governments failed to act as a political football. It’s time, for a change, to put all that aside. McFadden must do the right thing by the WASPIs and not only compensate them but acknowledge previous failings by his own party as much as the Tories – before time runs out.

Featured image via the Canary