WASPI campaigners (Women Against State Pension Inequality) will be closely monitoring Parliament next week as a key debate takes place about their compensation claim.
MPs will meet to discuss the matter after a petition calling for a compensation scheme for the 1950s-born women reached over 159,000 signatures.
The campaigners argue they were not properly informed by the DWP that their state pension age would increase from 60 to 65 or 66, with many unaware of the change, ruining their retirement plans.
The Labour Government said at the end of last year that there would no compensation scheme. This was despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman previously ruling there was ‘maladministration’ in the DWP’s communication of the change and advocating for payouts ranging from £1,000 to £2,950.
Many individual MPs back the cause, with WASPI chair, Angela Madden, saying there should be ample time in the debate for their supports to make the case.
She said: “This is a debate resulting from a petition that we started some time ago. We’ve got a three-hour debate this time, which will allow a lot more people to speak.
“There wasn’t enough time in the last debate, in an hour and a half, at the last debate, for everyone to get up and say what they wanted to say. It will be very interesting to see how that goes on Monday.”
MPs had a debate on the issue in January, with many politicians voicing their anger at the Government’s decision not to compensate.
The debate will take place in Westminster Hall on March 17 at 4.30pm, with Liberal Democrat MP Dr Roz Savage to introduce the debate.
The Liberal Democrats have long supported compensation for the WASPI women, with the SNP and the Green Party also backing the cause as a party position.
Ms Madden said she believes Labour will abstain from voting in the debate, although some individual Labour MPs will likely voice their support for the cause.
She spoke of her frustration that many MPs continue to sit on the fence about the issue: “There’s several MPs who don’t voice one way or the other.
“The real disappointment is the Liz Kendalls, Angela Rayners, Rachel Reeves, and to a degree Keir Starmer, who have decided to go against us rather than just not do anything.”
The WASPI campaign has launched a fresh legal bid to overturn the Government’s decision not to compensate, as they are preparing a judicial review for the high court to look over the decision. A fundraiser for the legal challenge has now reached £150,000 in public support.
Asked about the judicial review, a DWP spokesperson said: “We do not comment on live litigation. We accept the Ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
“However, evidence showed only one in four people remember reading and receiving letters that they weren’t expecting and that by 2006 90% of 1950s-born women knew that the state pension age was changing.
“The Government cannot justify paying for a £10.5billion compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer.”
