Waspi group seeks legal advice after latest snub – Daily Business

A women’s group which has campaigned for compensation over changes to the state pension age is seeking legal advice after the UK government again rejected their claim.

Angela Madden, the chairwoman of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign group accused the government of showing “utter contempt” for those affected.

Labour in opposition had supported the Waspi campaign group which secured a parliamentary ombudsman ruling in favour of their claim that they were not adequately informed of changes to the state pension age.

Weeks before the 2024 general election, Rachel Reeves admitted to Daily Business that she had not set aside funds to compensate the women.

After coming into office Liz Kendall the Work and Pensions Secretary confirmed that position, prompting accusations of betrayal and lying to those it had supported.

Pat McFadden, who took over from Ms Kendall, raised hopes of a settlement after announcing a review of the decision.

However, today he told the House of Commons that the government had again concluded the women were not entitled to compensation.

The department said most women born in the 1950s knew that their state pension was being set at a later date because a public awareness campaign.

Furthermore, there were practical difficulties in compensating only those who had not been informed of because it would require a scheme that could reliably verify the individual circumstances of millions of women.

Paying out a flat-rate to every woman in the qualifying age group would cost up to £10.3 billion and would “simply not be right or fair, given it would be paid to the vast majority who were aware of the changes”, he said.

Ms Madden said: “Waspi is taking legal advice and all options remain on the table. We stand ready to pursue every avenue in Parliament and in the courts to secure the justice that has been so shamefully denied.”

Political opponents were equally scathing of Labour’s decision. Scotland’s First Minster and SNP leader John Swinney said: “This latest refusal of the Labour Government is a historic betrayal of women in Scotland. 

“It is yet another example of Labour saying one thing to get elected and doing the opposite as soon as they are in government – they have not even tried to keep the promises they made.

“Keir Starmer and the Labour Party strung women in Scotland along for years, only to turn round and utterly betray them the second they got into Downing Street.

“They used Waspi women as a prop for photo-ops and had no intention of delivering what they promised. It is a disgrace and they should be ashamed.”

Mr Swinney said the SNP Government “stands behind Waspi women in their demands for justice”, though his government is not in a position to offer compensation.