Labour and former Labour MPs tore into Keir Starmer today after the government blocked £10.5bn of compensation for Waspi women.
Former frontbencher Diane Abbott laid into the PM after some 3.8million women born in the 1950s were denied redress lined to a change in the state pension age.
Ms Abbott, a close ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, said the women who has campaigned for compensation had led ‘a sustained and passionate campaign for justice’, asking him if he ‘really understands how let down’ they feel.
And she was joined by Ian Byrne, the Liverpool West Derby MP who represented Labour until he was suspended in the autumn.
The are the latest Labour figures to question the decision taken yesterday to deny the women almost £3,000 each.
Sir Keir said the taxpayer cannot afford the £10 billion compensation bill for Waspi women as research showed the majority of them already knew about the changes.
His comments echoed those made earlier by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who, like him, backed the Waspi campaign while in opposition.
Former frontbencher Diane Abbott laid into the PM after some 3.8million women born in the 1950s were denied redress lined to a change in the state pension age.
Sir Keir was one of a number of senior Labour ministers who supported the Waspi campaign while in opposition
Sir Keir said the taxpayer cannot afford the £10 billion compensation bill for Waspi women as research showed the majority of them already knew about the changes.
Ms Abbott, the longest continuously serving female MP, told the PM: ‘The Waspi women fought one of the most sustained and passionate campaigns for justice that I can remember, year in, year out.
‘We did promise them that we would give them justice. I understand the issue about the cost but does the Prime Minister really understand how let down Waspi women feel today?’
Sir Keir replied: ‘I do understand the concern, of course I do.’
He added: ‘The research is clear that 90 per cent of those impacted did know about the change and in those circumstances the taxpayer simply can’t afford the burden of tens of billions of pounds of compensation, but I do understand the concern.’
Mr Byrne had told him: ‘I have more than 5,000 women affected in my constituency. Alongside a great many Members in this House, I believe these women are owed compensation for the injustice done to them at the hands of the state.’
An estimated 3.8million women born between April 6, 1950, and April 5, 1960, were affected by a change to the state pension age from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2020.
They say they suffered financially and were left worse off in retirement because they were not given enough notice about it happening.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) watchdog said the women should be paid up to £2,950 each, a package with a potential total cost of £10.5 billion to the public purse, as poor communication meant they had lost out on the change to plan their retirement finances.
But Labour ministers have blocked the payment on cost grounds.
This afternoon Labour MP Natalie Fleet told GB News: ‘I didn’t come into politics for everything to be a no.
‘When we came in as a Labour government, we didn’t know that things were going to be as bad as they were. We knew it would be tough, but this bad in terms of the Waspi women, this makes me so sad that we are here.
‘This is absolutely horrendous.’
Mr Byrne had told him: ‘I have more than 5,000 women affected in my constituency. Alongside a great many Members in this House, I believe these women are owed compensation for the injustice done to them at the hands of the state.’
New Labour MP Terry Jermy has also gone over the top this afternoon
Rebecca Hilsenrath, the ombudsman who made the decision, told Times Radio: ‘It’s great that the Government are saying that our intervention will lead to service improvements and it’s fair to say also that people who come to us, overwhelmingly, are motivated by wanting things to improve for other people.
‘But what we don’t expect is for an acknowledgement to be made by a public body that it’s got it wrong but then refuse to make it right for those affected.’
Senior Labour figures, including Rachel Reeves, Sir Keir, Angela Rayner and Liz Kendall, all backed the women’s campaign in opposition.
In 2022, Sir Keir signed a pledge calling for the women affected to receive ‘fair and fast’ compensation. Last year, he said they had faced a huge injustice’. But on Monday, the Prime Minister said the Government could not afford the estimated £10.5billion cost – which would have seen a payout of up to £3,000 to each of the more than 3million affected.
The decision triggered a wave of anger with Angela Madden, chairman of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group, describing it as an ‘insult’.
In the Commons, Ms Kendall faced a backlash from Labour MPs and cries of ‘shame’.
Labour MP Brian Leishman said he was ‘appalled’ by the decision, telling Ms Kendall: ‘Waspi women certainly do not need words of disappointment and they certainly do not need hollow statements. What they need is justice.’
