For immediate release:

Local MSP Clare Haughey has slammed Labour for betraying a generation of women after the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, confirmed the UK Government will ignore the recommendation from the UK Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to deliver compensation to WASPI women.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Ms Kendall confirmed that the Labour Government would refuse the Ombudsman’s recommendation to award between £1,000 and £2,950 to 1950s-born women affected by the change in the state pension age.

It comes after the Ombudsman’s report, published in March this year, found that thousands of women may have been affected by the DWP’s failure to adequately inform them that the state pension age had changed, adding that “women lost opportunities to make informed decisions about their finances.”  As a result, the report recommended that compensation be paid to those affected.

Whilst in opposition, Labour promised to deliver justice for the estimated 3.6 million WASPI women affected.  The Labour Party have come under intense pressure with many senior figures in the UK Government, including Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Liz Kendall, all previously having been pictured supporting the WASPI campaign.

In 2017 Anas Sarwar said that: “Under my leadership, WASPI women will finally receive the justice they deserve.”

The same year, prior to becoming an MP, Michael Shanks tweeted that he was on a WASPI march in Glasgow city centre – saying “[g]reat to join some of the 243,900 WASPI women from across Scotland fighting for fairness”.   In 2023, Mr Shanks was pictured alongside local WASPI activists holding a pledge supporting ‘fair and fast compensation for 1950s women’.

After the UK Government’s snub, Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey hosted WASPI activists in the Scottish Parliament, and arranged for the group to meet with the First Minister, John Swinney.

Ms Haughey said:

“The SNP has been supporting WASPI campaigners for years – and it was an honour to welcome many of them to the Scottish Parliament.

“The UK Labour government has badly let these women down.  After promising in opposition to provide compensation, Labour politicians have turned their backs on them within just 6 months of being in power.

“Not content with robbing pensioners of their Winter Fuel Payment, the Labour government has now shamefully betrayed WASPI women – the same Labour Party who laughably told us that they wanted to restore trust in politics.

“The UK’s parliamentary Ombudsman was clear: the WASPI women deserved compensation for maladministration of up to £3,000.  It is an utter disgrace that the Labour Party has snubbed the Ombudsman’s calls and left these women – who they were happy to stand side by side with over the years when in opposition – thousands out of pocket.”

ENDS