WASPI leaders say ‘time’s not on our aspect’ in compensation plea to MPs
Ministers have been warned they must act now and finally award compensation to victims of the state pension age scandal.
Campaigners told MPs that “time is not on our side”, with one affected woman dying every 13 minutes on average. In March a Parliamentary watchdog said more than 3.5million women should receive payouts because of failures at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
Despite the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) calling for swift action, the Government has yet to say what it intends to do. Angela Madden, who chairs the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign, told MPs: “270,000 Waspi women have died without justice. In fact, another nine Waspi women may die while we have this evidence session today. There’s one of us dying every 13 minutes, so time is not on our side.”
She added that the DWP must apologise, saying years of denial had added “years of insults” to “years of injury”. Ms Madden told the Work and Pensions Committee: “An apology without a commitment to a fair remedy is not an apology at all.”
DWP failings meant millions of women born in the 1950s didn’t know the state pension age was rising from 60 to 65, and then to 66. This plunged tens of thousands into poverty. WASPI campaign director Jane Cowley voiced frustration at the slow action, telling: “It does seem to us that they are playing for time and hoping to kick it into the long grass.”
Ms Cowley branded it a “wide scale government failure to do the right thing for a group of women who suffered quite significantly”. She said: “If ever there is a case that demands a proper response from Parliament, this has to be it.”
And Ms Cowley warned: “We won’t just sit back and passively accept that injustice and we will continue to use whatever power we have.” Peter Aldous, who co-chairs the All Party Group on State Pension Inequality for Women, said he’d heard “harrowing” examples of the impact the change had. He said victims should be awarded an average of £10,000 per woman – far higher than the PHSO’s suggestion of £1,000 to £2,950.
Campaigners say the average victim missed out on over £50,000 in pension payments as a result. On March 22, PHSO chief executive chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath said: “Parliament now needs to act swiftly, and make sure a compensation scheme is established.” The report says classifying the state pension failure as a ‘level 4’ injustice – meaning victims would receive £1,000 to £2,950 – would cost the Treasury between £3.5billion and £10.5 billion. Campaigners believe it should be ‘level 6’, meaning payments of over £10,000.
