Millions of women campaigning for compensation for the change in the state pension age have been given fresh hope of payouts after the UK government said it was reconsidering their case.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign launch in 2015 to fight for up to 3.6 million women born in the 1950s who were affected by the postponement of the stage pension age. Campaigner say this was not properly communicated.
Their case was supported by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) in March last year, who said those affected should be compensated.
However, Daily Business revealed in June last year that despite Labour’s promises to compensate the women, the Chancellor had not factored it into her spending calculations and had no intention of complying with the order.
Ministers later said there was no evidence of “direct financial loss” resulting from the government’s decision, and that Labour did not believe that paying a flat rate to all women at a cost of up to £10.5bn would be “fair or proportionate” to taxpayers.
Just weeks before a high court legal challenge is due to begin, it has now emerged that a document was not shown to Liz Kendall, who was Work and Pensions Secretary at the time when a final decision not to pay compensation was made.
Current Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told the Commons that there may be a need to “retake” the decision, but there were no guarantees that this would lead to compensation.
“I understand that people are impatient for this matter to be resolved,” he told the Commons. “It is important that we give it full and appropriate consideration.”
Angela Madden, who chairs Waspi, said: “The government now knows it got it wrong and we are pleased they are now trying to do it properly. We hope they also try to do it quickly.”
She added that the “only correct thing to do” was to compensate those affected immediately.
The legal challenge to the government’s decision was due to begin with a two-day high court hearing starting on 9 December. It is not yet clear if this will still go ahead. Mr McFadden said the court had been informed of the action the government was taking.
SNP Work and Pensions spokesperson Kirsty Blackman MP said: “The WASPI women have been utterly betrayed by the Labour Party, which has repeatedly broken its promise to compensate them and is now lurching from one chaotic U-turn to another.
“Keir Starmer gave a personal guarantee that WASPI women would be fully compensated, then ripped that promise up as soon as he got into Downing Street.
“The Labour government has been forced into this latest U-turn, and yet again they have left WASPI women waiting in limbo with no guarantees that any compensation will ever come.
“The SNP has introduced a bill in parliament, which would fully compensate WASPI women. All Keir Starmer needs to do is ensure our bill is passed into law and deliver compensation now – or, yet again, it will be clear that Labour Party promises are worthless”.
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