Waspi women latest: Starmer accused of ‘breaking promise’ as he denies ‘misleading’ women over compensation
Starmer’s Labour was accused of broken promises at PMQs over its decision not to pay compensation to 3.8 million Waspi women
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Your support makes all the difference.Mother of the House Diane Abbott has accused the Labour government of breaking a previous promise to compensate the Waspi women, as Sir Keir Starmer was grilled in PMQs.
Calls for women born in the 1950s to receive thousands in compensation were rejected yesterday by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall. The Waspi women say they were not properly aware of the rise in state pension age from 60 to 65, and that it has affected their retirement plans.
“We did promise them that we would give them justice,” Ms Abbott said. “I understand the issue about the cost, but does the prime minister really understand how let down Waspi women feel today?”
The government’s decision has sparked “raw fury” among campaigners.
Labour’s refusal of compensation comes despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) ruling that affected women were due compensation of typically £1,000 to £2,950 each.
Downing Street said Sir Keir does not accept that he “misled” Waspi campaigners by backing their calls for compensation.
“The prime minister and the secretary of state yesterday were very clear that this is a difficult decision, it is not one that has been taken lightly, but it’s based on the evidence in the Ombudsman’s report,” Sir Keir’s official spokesperson said.
All of Starmer’s ‘betrayals’ and U-turns as Labour faces Waspi women backlash
Waspi women’s fury as Starmer says they knew about pension change
As a ‘cuspy Waspi’ woman, I have another reason to be furious with Labour’s pensions betrayal
From Waspi ‘betrayal’ to winter fuel cuts, Starmer’s U-turns will come back to haunt him
Comment: Labour’s betrayal of Waspi women is a sign its problems now go far beyond pensioners
By alienating the demographic most likely to turn out to vote, Keir Starmer will now struggle to shake off accusations that his government is happy to say one thing and do another, says John Rentoul
Labour’s betrayal of Waspi women is a sign its problems now go far beyond pensioners
By alienating the demographic most likely to turn out to vote, Keir Starmer will now struggle to shake off accusations that his government is happy to say one thing and do another, says John Rentoul
All of Starmer’s ‘betrayals’ and U-turns as Labour faces Waspi women backlash
All of Starmer’s ‘betrayals’ and U-turns as Labour faces Waspi women backlash
The Independent looks at all the times Sir Keir Starmer has let voters down or outright U-turned on his promises on the journey from Labour leader to prime minister
Watch: Diane Abbott accuses Starmer of ‘breaking promise’ to Waspi women in heated PMQs
ICYMI: Waspi campaigners acccuse Starmer of spreading ‘dangerous misinformation’ over State Pension age changes
Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaigners have accused the Prime Minister of spreading “dangerous misinformation” in his defence of how State Pension age changes were communicated to women born in the 1950s.
Angela Madden, Chair of Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI), said: “This isn’t just misleading; it’s an insult to millions of 1950s-born women who were blindsided by these changes. The Ombudsman’s findings were based on rigorous evidence showing that 60 per cent of women had no idea their own State Pension age was rising.
“The Government’s attempt to cherry-pick data to suggest otherwise is spreading dangerous misinformation, plain and simple.”
Ms Madden added: “The fact that 90 per cent of women had some general awareness of potential changes in the future does not mean they knew this would impact them personally.
“That is exactly why the Ombudsman identified maladministration and why this Government’s continued attempts to muddy the waters are so unacceptable.”
Fact check: Pensions triple lock was temporarily suspended after pandemic
During today’s Prime Minister’s Questions debate, Kemi Badenoch stated that the Conservative Party “protected the triple lock during all our time in Government”.
Shortly afterwards, Labour MP Mark Ferguson wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Wrong. In 2021 the Tories didn’t uprate pensions in line with earnings. That cost pensioners.”
In 2021, the Conservative government announced that the triple lock pension guarantee was being suspended for one year due to the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although the state pension still rose, the increase was lower than the rise that would otherwise have been implemented. This temporary change passed the House of Commons with little opposition, and was not objected to by the older people’s charity Age UK.
Councils warn of acute pressures despite funding boost next year
Urban and rural councils have warned that the increase in funding next year announced by the Government will not relieve acute pressures on local services.
Changes to the draft local government finance settlement included a £700 million uplift in funding for social care and the costs of changes to national insurance.
But the County Councils Network (CCN) said the extra funding would not come close to covering forecast costs facing its members, while the District Councils Network (DCN) said the changes mean “little or no increase” in funding in many areas with worrying consequences for services.
Meanwhile, councils in London have estimated that the settlement will still lead to a collective funding shortfall next year of at least £500 million.
The CCN welcomed the extra funding for social care but warned the national insurance support would not cover forecast costs facing its members, which amount to £488 million.
The body, which represents county and unitary councils covering about 50% of the population, also repeated concerns that the Government was favouring city and town councils by distributing the £600 million Recovery Grant exclusively on a deprivation formula.
Minister reads out AI-generated Adele lyrics to draw attention to copyright risks
A Government minister has quoted AI-generated Adele lyrics to draw attention to how bots can come up with versions of existing artists’ songs without paying them any money.
Technology minister Sir Chris Bryant read out lines from a non-existent song by the Grammy-award winning British singer that he had got an AI company to write, as he announced a consultation on potential new copyright protections for creative industries to stop AI bots from using their material for free.
Sir Chris said the issue posed an “existential threat” for the British music, film, literary and gaming industries.
In response to a question from Conservative MP Julian Lewis (New Forest East) in the House of Commons, urging him to consider looking at Taylor Swift whom he said had been “shrewd” over her copyright, Sir Chris said: “It’s not Taylor Swift that I’ve consulted, but I asked an AI company to come up with a song in the manner of Adele.
“‘Oh I still feel you, deep in my soul. Even though you left me out here on my own, the love we had it’s slipping through my hands, but I can’t forget, I still don’t understand. You’re gone, but your memory is all I see, and in the silence, it’s you haunting me’.
“It’s sort of Adele isn’t it? But it’s not Adele. And again, my question goes, so does Adele know that her material has been used, does her record label know that her lyrics have been used to create that. Because it’s sort of in the territory, but it’s not right.
“I think we can get this right in the UK and provide leadership to the world, that’s what we should strive for.”
Badenoch wants to replicate US-style government cost-cutting, spokesman suggests
Kemi Badenoch wants to see a British version of the soon-to-be set up US department of government efficiency, her spokesman has indicated.
Businessman Elon Musk is expected to lead a cost-cutting drive when President-elect Donald Trump comes to office in January, dubbed the “department of government efficiency”.
Nicknamed “Doge” – an acronym that shares its name with an internet meme about a dog and the cryptocurrency Dogecoin which Mr Musk once backed – the organisation is expected to take the form of an advisory team rather than a government department.
Doge will be chaired by Tesla and SpaceX owner Mr Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman who stood as a Republican presidential candidate.
Tory leader Mrs Badenoch is an “enormous fan of Elon Musk and what he’s done with X”, her spokesman said, adding she was “following what he is doing with Doge in the US very closely”.
Asked by journalists if she wanted to replicate the programme in the UK, her spokesman added: “Yes, she does. And in fact, that was one of the things that she was looking to do in the Department of Business and Trade with the smarter regulation program, to sort of finesse government and reduce regulation.”
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