Waspi campaigners in Northumberland 'devastated' by government decision to deny them compensation

Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) have been fighting for reimbursement for the financial hardship endured when the government increased pension ages, which they argued they were not properly informed of or given adequate notice.

The Labour government revealed on Tuesday that they will not be paying the women any compensation, with Rachel Reeves commenting that: "It isn’t the best use of taxpayers' money to pay an expensive compensation bill”.

It came despite the parliamentary and health service ombudsman’s findings that the Government had failed to communicate changes to affected women properly.

Waspi co-ordinator for Berwick, Jane Cowley revealed the effect this will have on women living in North Northumberland and the wider region, who have been campaigning since 2015.

She said: “We are devastated that the government has gone for that decision and really betrayed because we've had such support.

“Pretty much everybody now sitting on the Labour front bench has at some point or the other gave their support for Waspi and the fight for justice for Waspi women.

"We're running a Gov.uk campaign at the moment and its interesting to see that David Smith's constituency – North Northumberland, has got the highest number of signatures of any constituency in the country.”

She expanded on the next steps for the Waspi campaign: “What we are wanting to happen now, is all the MPs who have pledged support really need to work with us to try and get the government to understand that this is the wrong decision.

"MPs need to ensure that parliament get involved and that a proper debate and vote is allowed to take place on this issue.”

In response to Rachel Reeves’ comments, Jane said: "We hear a lot about the £22 billion black hole, but we hear less about the fact that this government and previous governments have already saved £181 billion by raising women’s state pension age.

“The £10 billion that it might cost to pay compensation is just a small fraction of the amount of savings we made for the government, if they had done it right in the first place they wouldn't need to be paying.”

Liz Simpson, former Newbiggin Central and East councillor and Waspi woman, left the Labour party when she became unhappy with decisions made at a national level, including the move to scrap winter fuel payments for most pensioners.

She said: “It’s an absolute disgrace, I am one of the ones impacted by this, and there are just no words.

“The Labour Party won’t be getting many votes the next time around – the pensioners won’t vote for them and the Waspi women won’t vote for them.”

Blyth and Ashington’s Labour MP, Ian Lavery also commented, urging the party to reconsider the move: “Having worked closely with the Waspi women over the years I’m very disappointed with today’s announcement.

“I will be continuing my dialogue with the women involved and join them as they continue to fight for justice for those affected.

"The announcement today is quite frankly unacceptable.”