State pensioners run the risk of Labour committing a reckless u-turn by handing WASPI women compensation, it has been warned.
State pensioners warned Labour heading for ‘most reckless’ u-turn yet
State pensioners have been warned Labour is heading for its “most reckless” u-turn yet. State pensioners run the risk of Labour committing a reckless u-turn by handing WASPI women compensation, it has been warned.
Michael Mosbacher, writing in the Telegraph, said: “Backing down on its decision not to compensate Waspi women sends a signal that noise beats fairness.”
He said: “If the Government fully reverses its decision, the compensation bill could amount to £10.5bn. Even this sum is paltry compared to what Labour was offering in the Corbyn era. Then shadow chancellor John McDonnell – one of those seven rebels stripped of the whip, although eventually restored – promised up to £58bn in compensation, not far removed from the UK’s annual defence spending bill.
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“If the Government has any sense, it will hold firm and once more reject the Waspi demands.”
Mr Mosbacher cited the Ombudsman report which found: “Between 1995 and 2004, DWP’s communication of changes to state pension age reflected the standards we would expect it to meet.
“Accurate information was publicly available through DWP’s agencies, pension education campaigns, leaflets and website.”
Angela Madden, the WASPI chair, said in a recent update: “We would hope for a better decision. We would hope it will be a decision where the Government will have to find some money, to actually fund the compensation scheme, and that should go to a vote in Parliament.”
She said: “We are going to engage with MPs much more over the next three months and get them all to write to the Secretary of State, telling him what we want to happen, which is a compensation scheme based on the evidence given by the Ombudsman and the Work and Pensions Committee, when the Ombudsman’s report came out.”
She said: “They will still be engaged and we’re all looking forward to the next [DWP] decision coming out.”