‘Shameful’ - Hull City Council leader slams Government’s Waspi women ‘betrayal’

Women Against State Pension Inequality, or Waspi, is a campaign group that fights for compensation for women born in the 1950s who were adversely affected by the 1995 Pensions Act which set out plans to raise the state pension age for women to 65 from 60. Raising the age to 65 for women put them in line with the age at which men could receive their state pension at the time.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said women born between April 1950 and April 1960 were “owed” money because increases in the state pension age, from 60 to 66, were not communicated properly.

Some women were notified of the change to their pension age less than a year before they had been expecting to retire at 60, which left them without enough time to adjust their savings plans, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found.

However, this week the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, announced Waspi women will not be receiving compensation despite the Prime Minister having previously backed the Waspi campaign on numerous occasions while in opposition.

When questioned in Parliament on the decision to not provide compensation, Sir Keir Starmer said: “The taxpayer simply can’t afford the burden of tens of billions of pounds of compensation.”

According to House of Commons Library data, as a result of this decision, there are almost 14,000 women in Hull that will not be receiving compensation of up to £40 million.

The leader of Hull City Council, Coun Mike Ross has criticised the decision, saying: “After saying in opposition they would support Waspi women, just months into government, Labour has betrayed that trust from millions of older people.

“The very first thing Labour did was slash Winter Fuel Payments for the elderly. Now they have broken their commitment to support Waspi women, who lost out when their retirement age went up.

“Time and again, Labour has targeted vulnerable older people. These cuts and broken promises are shameful, and the Liberal Democrats oppose them. If Labour continues to betray pensioners, more vulnerable people in our area will be forced to choose between eating and heating.”