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.
‘Is this a democracy?’, asks Waspi spokesperson
Waspi spokesperson Debbie de Spon has questioned whether the government’s refusal of the Ombudsman’s ruling is democratic.
Labour rejected a ruling from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) that recommended compensation of typically £1,000 to £2,950 each for the women affected.
“If there’s no mechanism for people to complain and to get true justice, well, is that a democracy?” spokesperson Debbie de Spon said.
“There’s a whole constitutional issue here, apart from just the fact that 3.6 million Waspi women are feeling extremely angry this morning.
“It’s a far, far deeper thing. If we don’t all watch out, what’s next? If you tolerate this then your children will be next, as they say.”
‘Labour claimed they were the party for change’ - Waspi spokesperson
Waspi spokesperson Debbie de Spon was asked for her view on the Labour ministers who once supporter her campaign.
“It seems to be that it’s okay for you to change your view by fiddling with the numbers, by justifying it by using numbers which simply aren’t right.
“We expected a Labour government to offer something different, because they were saying they were the party for change, and we’d had 14 years of Conservative government who deliberately shoved the Waspi issue under the carpet for as long as they possible could.
“We definitely did think that Labour might be providing the change that they claimed, but it’s obviously only changed for certain things and certain people.
“Somehow, women who were born in then in the 1950s who are now in their retirement, aren’t worthy of consideration.”
‘Raw fury’ among campaigners, Waspi spokesperson says
There is “raw fury” among Waspi campaigners and supporters after the government decided not to provide compensation for state pension changes.
“It’s come as a shock and a huge disappointment,” spokesperson for the Waspi campaign Debbie de Spon told The Independent.
“Well, disappointment is putting it mildly. It’s a shock and we’re devastated. But it means that that we must press our point more clearly there.
“There’s raw fury [on Facebook] understandably. As a campaign we are picking ourselves up and facing this head on. We’ve got to look at what Liz Kendall has said and we’ve got to approach it in the appropriate manner,” Ms de Spon added.
Waspi campaign seeks legal advice on Labour’s ‘untrue’ 90 per cent claim
The government’s claim that 90 per cent of women knew about impending state pension changes “simply isn’t true”, a spokesperson for the Waspi campaign has said.
Speaking to The Independent, communications director for the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign Debbie de Spon said: “One of the reasons that Liz Kendall has used… she claimed that 90 percent of women did know, which simply isn’t true.”
“And if you read the ombudsman’s report properly, you will see that that isn’t true. What the Ombudsman took out of the research is that three out of five women didn’t know their state pension age was increasing.
“She’s just using one number out from a cluster of numbers. She’s clung on to that because it’s the highest number. But it doesn’t represent the truth.
“We will be taking legal advice about that because it doesn’t make sense to us.”
Labour minister challenged in heated clash over WASPI women ‘betrayal’ as Starmer compared to Gregg Wallace
A government minister has defended the decision not to award compensation to women affected by changes in the state pension age during a heated clash with Sky News presenter Kay Burley.
The journalist asked Rushanara Ali who middle-class women of a certain age would find more offensive out of prime minister Keir Starmer or MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace during the confrontation on Wednesday (18 December).
The homelessness minister said the situation was “deeply regrettable” and the women had received an apology but compensation would not be a “fair or proportionate” use of taxpayers’ money.
Repeatedly challenged about previous Labour promises to compensate the women, she said: “I go back to the point about the lessons that need to be learned, and the fact that this government has apologised for that delay.”
Watch the clash here:
What does the government’s Waspi announcement mean for women hit by state pension changes?
The government has announced it will not compensate up to 3.8 million women affected by changes to the state pension age.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall rejected calls for the individuals to be awarded between £1,000 and £2,950 each, while claiming she understood why many were unhappy about the issue.
"I know there are women born in the 1950s who want and deserve a better life, they have worked hard in paid jobs and in bringing up their families,” she said.
The Labour government is now facing a barrage of criticism from MPs and campaigners over the decision, some of which is coming from within its own party.
Jabed Ahmed reports:
What does the Waspi announcement mean for women hit by state pension changes?
Everything you need to know about the Waspi campaign following work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall’s latest update
UK inflation increases as cigarettes and petrol drive price rises
The rate of price rises in the UK increased to 2.6 per cent in November, as a hike in tobacco duty and petrol costs drove inflation higher.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced the latest monthly Consumer Prices Index (CPI) reading on Wednesday, up from 2.3 per cent in October.
The inflation level swung back above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target in October, largely because of household energy bills being pushed up as the price cap rose.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said the figures are a “reminder that for too long the economy has not worked for working people”, while Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride blamed a “series of irresponsible and inflationary decisions” from the Treasury.
At the end of October, taxes paid on cigarettes and other tobacco products increased in line with inflation, which is likely to be a major driver of higher inflation last month, according to economists.
UK inflation increases as cigarettes and petrol drive price rises
The Office for National Statistics has announced the latest monthly Consumer Prices Index reading
Liz Kendall issues apology as Labour face backlash over Waspi women ‘betrayal’
Reform UK supports Labour’s Waspi decision
Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, has supported the government’s decision not to compensate the Waspi women.
Speaking to Sky’s Kay Burley, Mr Tice said: "Waspi women have been fighting a significant campaign. But the reality is we haven’t got £10bn just to fling around.
"And the reality is, [Reform UK’s] economic policy of lifting the starting point of paying any income tax to £20,000 - that’s an extra £1,500 for anybody working and those receiving pensions.
"That helps the Waspi women, along with everybody else."
Waspi women ‘betrayed’ but we may not have paid either - shadow minister
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith has criticised the “betrayal” of the Waspi women by Labour - but acknowledged the Tories may not have offered compensation either.
Mr Griffith told Sky News that every Waspi campaigner believed that this government “would do something”.
He said: “They’d all talked about it: Keir Starmer had talked about it, Angela Rayner talked about it, even Liz Kendall, who yesterday said they weren’t going to do a single thing about it, had talked about it. So it’s a big issue of betrayal.”
The Tories may not have offered compensation, but this is beside the point, he added.
“I’m not sitting here saying we would necessarily have done something about it. That’s fair.
“But the point is this Government has given everybody the impression that they would, and then they’ve come in, and now they’re saying they wouldn’t. That’s a big issue. I can understand people, particularly the Waspi women, feeling enormously let down by that.”
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