WASPI women from Paisley travel to Downing Street to fight for compensation

A campaigning duo from Paisley travelled to Westminster to call on the next UK Government to compensate women left out of pocket by pension changes.

Part of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign group, Elaine Loch and Kathleen Birney visited Downing Street in their bid to achieve justice for the estimated 3.8 million women affected by major changes to the state pension age.

Women born between 1950 and 1960 were forced to work six extra years after the government changed the state pension age to 66.

In March, a report published by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) ruled that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) had failed to adequately communicate the changes and recommended a payout of between £1,000 and £2,950 for some of the women affected.

The PHSO also asked parliament to intervene swiftly but no action was taken before parties hit the campaign trail for next Thursday’s General Election.

Now Elaine and Kathleen want the incoming government to hit the ground running to right this wrong because there are women dying without receiving what they are entitled to.

Kathleen said: “[We] travelled to Westminster to highlight that the incoming government must honour the findings of the parliamentary ombudsman and pay fair and fast compensation to those 1950s born women affected by the change of age of receipt of the state pension.

“The DWP was found to be guilty of maladministration as many women were given little or no notice of the changes which saw the pension age rise from 60 to 66 (now 67). Now a WASPI woman dies every 13 minutes without justice.”

She added: “Despite many signed pledges from politicians from both Labour and Conservatives, including Sir Keir Starmer and Douglas Ross, we do not feature in either manifesto. Only the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrats have included the WASPI plight in their manifestos.”

A Labour party spokesperson stopped short of saying the party was committed to compensating the WASPI women as per the instructions of the ombudsman – saying it will need, if elected, to see the information presented to the government by the PHSO before progressing payouts.

They said: “These women have been through so much and have campaigned tirelessly on this issue. It’s only right that we consider this report with the seriousness it deserves because lessons must be learnt.

“Like many other issues, the [current] government has kicked it into the long grass, despite having months to respond, leaving so many in the dark.

“Only they have the appropriate level of detail and engagement with the ombudsman, and if we’re privileged enough to come into office, we’ll pick that work up at pace, and reach a judgement.”

In the wake of the PHSO report, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to consider the findings carefully and insisted: “When it comes to pensioners, I want everyone to have dignity in retirement.”

Don't miss the latest Renfrewshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here