WASPI campaign calls out Labour for 'steadfastly refusing to speak to us'

The WASPI campaign (Women Against State Pension Inequality) has hit out at the Government, claiming it has refused to talk to the group about their cause. The campaign group is pushing on its fight to secure DWP compensation for 1950s-born women.

Government ministers announced in December last year there would be no compensation, but WASPI have secured a judicial review of the decision, with the High Court to hear the case in December. WASPI is one of several groups who represent the 1950s-born generation of women impacted when the state pension age increased from 60 to 65 and then 66. They claim the DWP did not properly inform them of the change, with many unaware right up to the last minute, ruining their retirement plans.

An investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman previously found there were failures on the part of the DWP, as they should have sent letters to the women sooner. The watchdog recommended payouts ranging from £1,000 to £2,950.

But Labour announced last year there would be no payouts, arguing it would have made little difference to send out letters sooner. WASPI is now seeking to get this decision overturned at the High Court.

WASPI campaign chairwoman Angela Madden said she the group will likely write to Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ask her to remember them in her Budget next month. But she said this probably "won't make any difference".

Ms Madden said: "They are stedfastly refusing to speak to us. We've offered to talk with them all the way through before we actually arranged the court case, and they just haven't taken up that offer.

"We're willing to go to the table any time to talk to them about compensating WASPI women."

The WASPI campaign filed the papers for the judicial review in February. Ms Madden said: "We've said in the court papers that we are happy to resolve this through alternative dispute resolution and not have to go to court."

A DWP spokesperson said: "The minister for pensions met with representatives from WASPI in September last year to hear their experiences directly, the first minister to do so in eight years. No further meetings are planned with any campaign groups at the moment."

The compensation campaign has a lot of support from individual MPs, while some political parties have come out to back the cause, including the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party. WASPI is organising a drop-in event in Parliament today (October 21) to meet with MPs and get them to pledge their support again.