KEIR Starmer has been accused of spreading “dangerous misinformation” in his defence of not giving compensation to Waspi women.
The Labour Government has come in for severe criticism after Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall confirmed it would not be paying compensation to women born in the 1950s who were not provided timely information about changes to the state pension.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigated complaints that, since 1995, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to provide accurate, adequate and timely information about areas of state pension reform.
It recommended compensation at a level of between £1000 and £2950 per person, as well as saying the DWP should acknowledge its failings and apologise, but the Labour Government has opted not to pay out any money.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer claimed one of the reasons the Labour Government were not compensating women was because 90% of them were aware of changes to the state pension age.
But Angela Madden (below), chair of the Waspi campaign, has insisted this is “misleading” given the Ombudsman’s findings showed 60% of women did not know their pension age was changing.
She said: “This isn’t just misleading; it’s an insult to millions of 1950s-born women who were blindsided by these changes.
“The Ombudsman’s findings were based on rigorous evidence showing that 60% of women had no idea their own state pension age was rising.
“The Government’s attempt to cherry-pick data to suggest otherwise is spreading dangerous misinformation, plain and simple.”
The Waspi campaign says the 90% figure cited by ministers refers only to women having a vague awareness of the principle that state pension age changes might happen for others in the future.
The DWP’s handling of the pension age changes meant some women lost opportunities to make informed decisions about their finances, which diminished their sense of personal autonomy and financial control, the ombudsman said in its report in March.
Women in Waspi – standing for Women Against State Pension Inequality – claim they were not given sufficient warning of the state pension age being lifted from 60 to 65, throwing their retirement plans into chaos.
It was due to be phased in over 10 years from 2010, but in 2011 was sped up to be reached by 2018, then rose to the age of 66 in 2020.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Starmer was rounded on by MPs from a mixture of parties including the SNP’s Dave Doogan who blasted him for turning his back on several pledges, including previous promises he would back Waspi women.
He called him a “one trick phoney” who "says one thing and does another" in a passionate speech in the Commons.
Labour MP Diane Abbott also slated Starmer for not giving Waspi women the justice he promised them.
