Ask this in support of the Waspi women: is Liz Kendall lying about state pension changes?
The government is refusing to pay out around £10.5 billion in compensation to around 3,600 women after a previous administration delayed notifying them of changes to the age at which they would receive their pension – by two years and four months.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall says the delay would not have made a difference to the ladies’ ability to make retirement choices.
And a DWP spokesperson said that by 2006, 90 per cent of 1950s-born women (the group affected by it) knew the state pension age was changing, and “earlier letters would not have affected this”.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
However:
While it is true that the changes were first decided in 1995, when the then-Conservative government decided to equalise the pension age for men and women at 65 by 2020, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition decided to accelerate and increase the changes after 2010, raising the pension age for everyone to 67.
So it was perfectly possible for people to be aware the pension age was changing, without knowing how soon it would affect them or being aware that they should make changes to their own finances in order to protect their financial security.
The 28-month notification delay, which happened between 2005 and 2007, would not have affected whether these women and it seems the women affected were not promptly or adequately informed about the Coalition government’s changes.
The Tories did not begin to notify affected women about the changes in the Pension Act 2011 until 2012 – one year after it had become law, with serious consequences for many of those affected.
Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) says the lack of information from successive governments – that waited 12 years before even starting to inform most of those affected, it seems – seriously impaired its members’ ability to make adequate plans for their retirement. Some of them had had very firm plans in that respect, that would have required considerable time to change – or might not have been made at all, had they been informed sooner.
And now the organisation has put the government on notice that if it does not reverse its decision not to pay compensation (made in the face of an Ombudsman’s decision that the ladies deserve it because of government maladministration), then it will call for a judicial review and allow a High Court judge to decide.
The Labour government has two weeks in which to make a formal response, before Waspi seeks a judicial review.
Labour formerly (in Opposition to the Tories) supported the Waspi campaign, but changed its tune after winning the 2024 general election.
The party decided that the £10.5 billion cost of paying £2,950 to each of the women affected would be too much, in the light of the terrible condition in which the Tories had left the national finances.
So it seems the decision to deny compensation has been made in order to save money, rather than for reasons related to justice.
One last comment: from looking through This Site’s previous articles, I have noticed that the number of women seeking compensation is coming down – it was 3.8 million in 2016 and is now 3.6 million.
It occurs to me that nobody would abandon a campaign against something that threatens their future financial security, so I must conclude that those 200,000 women have died – never having received justice.
This Writer certainly hopes that any High Court judge reviewing this case will take that into account when considering a decision.
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Waspi women: is Liz Kendall lying about state pension changes?
Ask this in support of the Waspi women: is Liz Kendall lying about state pension changes?
The government is refusing to pay out around £10.5 billion in compensation to around 3,600 women after a previous administration delayed notifying them of changes to the age at which they would receive their pension – by two years and four months.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall says the delay would not have made a difference to the ladies’ ability to make retirement choices.
And a DWP spokesperson said that by 2006, 90 per cent of 1950s-born women (the group affected by it) knew the state pension age was changing, and “earlier letters would not have affected this”.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
However:
While it is true that the changes were first decided in 1995, when the then-Conservative government decided to equalise the pension age for men and women at 65 by 2020, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition decided to accelerate and increase the changes after 2010, raising the pension age for everyone to 67.
So it was perfectly possible for people to be aware the pension age was changing, without knowing how soon it would affect them or being aware that they should make changes to their own finances in order to protect their financial security.
The 28-month notification delay, which happened between 2005 and 2007, would not have affected whether these women and it seems the women affected were not promptly or adequately informed about the Coalition government’s changes.
The Tories did not begin to notify affected women about the changes in the Pension Act 2011 until 2012 – one year after it had become law, with serious consequences for many of those affected.
Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) says the lack of information from successive governments – that waited 12 years before even starting to inform most of those affected, it seems – seriously impaired its members’ ability to make adequate plans for their retirement. Some of them had had very firm plans in that respect, that would have required considerable time to change – or might not have been made at all, had they been informed sooner.
And now the organisation has put the government on notice that if it does not reverse its decision not to pay compensation (made in the face of an Ombudsman’s decision that the ladies deserve it because of government maladministration), then it will call for a judicial review and allow a High Court judge to decide.
The Labour government has two weeks in which to make a formal response, before Waspi seeks a judicial review.
Labour formerly (in Opposition to the Tories) supported the Waspi campaign, but changed its tune after winning the 2024 general election.
The party decided that the £10.5 billion cost of paying £2,950 to each of the women affected would be too much, in the light of the terrible condition in which the Tories had left the national finances.
So it seems the decision to deny compensation has been made in order to save money, rather than for reasons related to justice.
One last comment: from looking through This Site’s previous articles, I have noticed that the number of women seeking compensation is coming down – it was 3.8 million in 2016 and is now 3.6 million.
It occurs to me that nobody would abandon a campaign against something that threatens their future financial security, so I must conclude that those 200,000 women have died – never having received justice.
This Writer certainly hopes that any High Court judge reviewing this case will take that into account when considering a decision.
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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