WASPI compensation moves step forward after MPs say 'report is clear'

WASPI demands for compensation have been backed by a huge number of MPs. Sir Peter Bottomley, the Father of the House of Commons, has said seven Tory, Labour, SNP and Alba colleagues have written to the Secretary of State and the Department for Work and Pensions saying ministers should bring compensation plans to a vote before Parliament’s summer recess.

The Conservative MP for Worthing West, said: “The report is clear the Government should recognise the impact on ‘Waspi’ women.” It follows a report on Women’s State Pension age which pushed for compensation at ‘level four’, ranging between £1,000 and £2,950, for each of those affected.

Conservative MP Peter Aldus and co-chairman of the State Pension Inequality for Women All-Party Parliamentary Group, also pushed for the issue to be resolved by July 23, adding this week: “Most importantly, any process must clear the parliamentary process before the summer recess.

READ MORE Parents getting six payments and discounts worth £7,732 before end of May

“We do not have long. We have less than nine weeks of parliamentary time before recess. This means within days the DWP must come forward with proposals. Finite resources are not an excuse for failing to provide a fair remedy. If Parliament chooses to do nothing, that will undermine the ombudsman.

"The DWP should respect what Parliament recommends.” WASPI stands for Women Against State Pension Inequality and it has sparked a strirring of support up and down the country.

The campaign was formed after the DWP changed the state pension age for women from 60 to 65 and then to 66. The campaign argues that women weren’t given enough notice and couldn’t alter their retirement plans and had not been adequately informed about the change to state pension age.

The Ombudsman backed the women, calling the historic injustice into question when it released its bombshell report earlier this year, back in March.