WASPI fury as ‘gaslighting’ Labour torn apart over new ‘evidence’ | Politics | News
WASPI campaigners accused ministers of “gassing” them and denying the experiences of millions of women.
Women born in the 1950s could receive compensation for the way state pension changes are reported, the government suggested on Tuesday.
It comes after ministers said the Government would reconsider its decision not to pay after new evidence emerged.
But Angela Maden, chief executive of Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI), said: “WASPI is appealing against the Government’s decision last December, following the country’s longest Parliamentary Ombudsman investigation, followed by months of deliberation.
“Previous Pensions Minister Liz Kendall confidently told Parliament that there were “two facts: most women knew the State Pension age was rising and that the letters were not as important as the ombudsman said” and that they meant “there should be no financial compensation scheme for women born in the 1950s in response to the Ombudsman’s report.”
“This was, of course, complete nonsense and an illuminating denial of the lived experiences of WASPI women.
“The government appears to have accepted that at least one of these crucial so-called ‘facts’ is completely false, as officials have failed to show it a report by the DWP that completely contradicts it.
“This is scandalous and, furthermore, the Government has so far defended our legal case as hopeless with only a few weeks to go until the hearing.
“He said he would re-evaluate and this time the Minister will be shown the withheld report. Why didn’t this happen? Why wasn’t this fundamental error acknowledged when WASPI started the case? Why didn’t the re-evaluation happen already?”
“We don’t yet know the answers to these questions. But we do know that the Government is desperate to prevent a judge from scrutinizing the decision-making process and therefore backing out of the upcoming hearing.”
“This action also confirms what WASPI has said all along: that the government’s decision on the Ombudsman’s report was fundamentally flawed. What this means for the case is a more complex question and we are considering our options with our lawyers.”
Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden said his department would review a policy announced last year to deny compensation to women born in the 1950s affected by the increase in the retirement age.
It comes as court proceedings led to the rediscovery of a 2007 Department for Work and Pensions review that led authorities to stop sending automatic pension forecast letters.
But Mr McFadden gave campaigners no assurance that the review would lead to compensation being paid.
The Minister said the Government would reconsider its decision “in the interest of fairness and transparency”.
He said: “This means we will be re-taking the decision made last December as it relates to state retirement age notifications.”
He added: “I understand people are impatient for this matter to be finally resolved by the ombudsman investigation six years before last year’s reporting, but it is important that we give this matter full and accurate consideration.
“Re-taking this decision should not mean that the Government will necessarily decide that it must provide financial compensation.”
