There will be no payout for WASPI women as Labour has rejected the Ombudsman’s ruling that they should be compensated for failures to tell them of changes in the state pension age.
Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) had called for payouts of £10,000 each after saying an estimated 3.6 million women were not properly informed of the rise in state pension age to bring them into line with men.
And in March a parliamentary ombudsman recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 to those affected.
But now the Labour government’s axe-woman – Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall – has said there will be no compensation at all.
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She apologised for government delays in informing those affected but refused to accept any UK government responsibility for financial hardship that women had suffered as a result.
You can bet that this won’t be the end of it.
WASPI is not arguing that the pension age should not have been raised, stating that this was done by democratic government decision – but that the way the Department for Work and Pensions provided information about it meant that women were unable to make appropriate choices that they would have made if they had known earlier that their State Pension age would increase, and that this has had emotional and financial impacts on their lives.
The group is arguing for fair, fast and straightforward compensation for the emotional and financial losses – both direct losses and lost opportunities – that women have suffered.
The ombudsman’s reports have shown that there was maladministration, that it caused injustice, and that the WASPI women deserve compensation.
I wrote back in March that “we now have a clear ruling – from the authority with power to make such decisions – that thousands of women who were born in the 1950s have been mistreated with regard to their pensions and should be compensated.
“The offending government department should not have discretion to reject that ruling but should simply shut up and pay up.”
I also pointed out that the then-Tory government was likely to be out of power by the end of the year, and hoped that the Waspi women would have the good sense “to shun Labour as well and choose an Independent or Green candidate who will support them”.
Sadly, that didn’t happen and we ended up with a Labour government whose ministers seem to think they can do what they want.
The big question now is, what happens next? Will this case end up in court? How long will that take? Is Labour just trying to delay accepting liability until everybody affected is dead, as usual?
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No payout for Waspi women as Labour has rejected the Ombudsman’s ruling
There will be no payout for WASPI women as Labour has rejected the Ombudsman’s ruling that they should be compensated for failures to tell them of changes in the state pension age.
Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) had called for payouts of £10,000 each after saying an estimated 3.6 million women were not properly informed of the rise in state pension age to bring them into line with men.
And in March a parliamentary ombudsman recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 to those affected.
But now the Labour government’s axe-woman – Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall – has said there will be no compensation at all.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
She apologised for government delays in informing those affected but refused to accept any UK government responsibility for financial hardship that women had suffered as a result.
You can bet that this won’t be the end of it.
WASPI is not arguing that the pension age should not have been raised, stating that this was done by democratic government decision – but that the way the Department for Work and Pensions provided information about it meant that women were unable to make appropriate choices that they would have made if they had known earlier that their State Pension age would increase, and that this has had emotional and financial impacts on their lives.
The group is arguing for fair, fast and straightforward compensation for the emotional and financial losses – both direct losses and lost opportunities – that women have suffered.
The ombudsman’s reports have shown that there was maladministration, that it caused injustice, and that the WASPI women deserve compensation.
I wrote back in March that “we now have a clear ruling – from the authority with power to make such decisions – that thousands of women who were born in the 1950s have been mistreated with regard to their pensions and should be compensated.
“The offending government department should not have discretion to reject that ruling but should simply shut up and pay up.”
I also pointed out that the then-Tory government was likely to be out of power by the end of the year, and hoped that the Waspi women would have the good sense “to shun Labour as well and choose an Independent or Green candidate who will support them”.
Sadly, that didn’t happen and we ended up with a Labour government whose ministers seem to think they can do what they want.
The big question now is, what happens next? Will this case end up in court? How long will that take? Is Labour just trying to delay accepting liability until everybody affected is dead, as usual?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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