MSPs have voted unanimously to call for the UK Government to compensate Waspi women.
Every single MSP in the Holyrood chamber called for the Labour Party to reconsider its decision not to compensate women born in the 1950s affected by changes to the state pension age.
The 1995 Pensions Act and subsequent legislation raised the state pension age for women born on or after April 6, 1950.
In a report in March 2024, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) suggested compensation of between £1000 and £2950 per person due to failures in communicating changes in the state pension age to women born in the 1950s.
However, despite figures including now-Prime Minister Keir Starmer backing the calls for compensation while in opposition, Labour have declined to pay any compensation.
In front of several Waspi campaigners in the gallery, MSPs unanimously backed a Scottish Government motion on Tuesday calling on the UK Government "to compensate Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) women as recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman".
A Labour amendment calling for the UK Government to additionally "look at all options for remedy" was not agreed.
During the debate, Scottish Labour MSPs including Paul O'Kane and Katy Clark spoke out against their UK counterparts, with the latter encouraging the Parliament to speak with a "unified voice" and push Westminster to reconsider.
Labour MSP Carol Mochan insisted an apology was "not enough", adding the refusal to provide compensation was "unacceptable", while Monica Lennon said the UK Government was not "powerless to act".
At one stage, Labour's Michael Marra seemed to suggest that if a vote was to happen at Westminster on the matter, Scottish Labour MPs would also push for compensation.
Asked how Scottish Labour MPs would vote if one occurred, he replied: "Many of the members the minister [Shirley-Anne Somerville] talks about were at the APPG [All-Party Parliamentary Group] last week setting exactly the position we have laid out today and I fully anticipate that's exactly how they will pursue it in Parliament if a vote is brought in the future".
In a rare display of agreement across the chamber, MSPs from all parties slated the Labour UK Government.
In her remarks, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said Waspi women feel "betrayed" by Labour and deserve "so much better".
"Despite words of support from numerous Labour politicians standing with Waspi women in marches and in photos and appearing in newsletters the length and breadth of the country, who promised a lot more than just an apology, the Waspi women are feeling let down once again," she said.
"That’s why so many women feel betrayed by the new Labour Government because when the previous Conservative government was pushed to deliver the compensation, the then-Chancellor’s assertion was that any compensation had to be fair to other taxpayers.
"Now we have a Prime Minister saying that to compensate the affected Waspi women would be a burden to the taxpayer. As I have previously said, the only fair approach to this issue is to ensure compensation is paid to these women at the earliest possible time.
"Surely the first new UK Government in 14 years should be aiming to learn from the mistakes of the past and in the case of the Waspi women ensuring mistakes are rectified as soon as possible. Yet we’ve got more of the same excuses, the failure to take responsibility for harm caused, and failure to act.
"The Waspi women deserve so much better than that."
Despite Marra suggesting Scottish Labour MPs would vote for compensation if a vote happened at Westminster, Somerville said she was unconvinced adding: "I know how SNP MPs will vote on this, I know how LibDem MPs will vote on this, I still don’t know how Scottish Labour MPs, who were so quick to stand beside Waspi women just last year, will vote."
The Scottish Parliament has been consistent in its support for Waspi women, as back in May MSPs backed the Scottish Government in a call for “compensation in full” following the PHSO report.
During the debate, the Scottish Conservatives complimented the latest Scottish Government motion and urged the Parliament to get behind it.
Tory MSP Douglas Ross said: "I think it is very clean [the motion]. It is very clear that if we vote for the Government motion today it sends the strongest possible signal to the UK Government that they should reconsider this and deliver the compensation."
Elsewhere in the chamber, LibDem MSP Beatrice Wishart laid out how Waspi women had "all their lives faced adversity", insisting Labour should be "ashamed" to ignore their calls for compensation.
She said: "The Labour Party should be ashamed to even contemplate ignoring these women, women who have all their lives faced adversity through a different time, a man’s world, taking everyday rational decisions about their lives to look after children, parents, loved ones, at the expense of earning.
There was not a Labour MSP in the room who sought to defend the UK Government's decision.
Lennon was particularly scathing in her assessment of her party's call not to pay out any compensation.
She said: "While an apology from the UK Labour Government is welcome, it is not good enough.
"It is undeniable that the Labour Government has been handed a tough inheritance after 14 years of Tory chaos, but 1950s-born women are not to blame for the constraints on public finances and Government is not powerless to act.
"This is a moment for this Scottish Parliament to unite."
Somerville said the Labour amendment put forward which called for the UK Government to "look at all options for remedy, particularly for those most adversely impacted" would give the Labour the chance to "deflect, dither and delay".
The amendment was turned down by 72 votes to 52.
