Campaigners say as many as 3.8 million \u2018Waspi women\u2019 lost out on money because of the way changes to the way the state pension age were communicated. <\/p>\n
The government had previously vowed not to offer compensation, but work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden announced<\/a> in November last year that the case was being reconsidered after a new document came to light. However, he told MPs today that the government had reached the same conclusion that no money should be paid<\/a>.<\/p>\n The decision prompted a furious backlash, with Sir Keir Starmer’s own MPs hitting out, describing it as a “shameful day” for the Labour Party. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Waspi campaigners have been left disappointed after campaigning for compensation (PA)<\/p>\n Announcing they would not receive compensation, Mr McFadden <\/a>apologised that women born in the 1950s were not sent individual letters<\/a> about their state pension<\/a> changes earlier. <\/p>\n But he warned that a flat-rate compensation scheme would have cost more than \u00a310bn.<\/p>\n He told the Commons there were \u201clegitimate and sincerely held views\u201d about whether the decision to accelerate the equalisation of the state pension age \u201cwas the right thing to do or not\u201d.<\/p>\n But the issue of compensation is based on \u201chow changes to the state pension age were communicated\u201d, not past policy decisions, he said.<\/p>\n He also pointed to a conclusion from the Parliamentary and Health Service ombudsman \u201cthat women did not suffer any direct financial loss from the delay\u201d.<\/p>\n Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi), which has long-campaigned for compensation, accused the government of treating 1950s-born women with “utter contempt”, branding the decision a “disgraceful political choice by a small group of very powerful people who have decided the harm and injustice suffered by millions of ordinary women simply does not matter”.<\/p>\n The group also said it was taking legal advice and that all options \u201cremain on the table\u201d. <\/p>\n But MPs told the government the decision was \u201cfrankly wrong\u201d and would feel like a \u201cpunch in the stomach\u201d to those affected. <\/p>\n Labour\u2019s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the Independent: \u201cThe government shouldn\u2019t underestimate the anger there will be amongst large numbers of women, who will feel betrayed. The refusal to accept the ombudsman\u2019s findings of the injustice these women suffers and adopt even the ombudsman\u2019s moderate proposals will be seen as an appalling snub to women. <\/p>\n \u201cThese women will recall the MPs, including current government ministers, who appeared on Waspi platforms before the election promising support.\u201d<\/p>\n Labour MP Brian Leishman said it was a “shameful day for a great party” and an “absolute disgrace”, while Kim Johnson told the Independent that the decision was \u201cnothing less than blatant contempt\u201d. <\/p>\n Labour\u2019s Rebecca Long-Bailey, the chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women, said the decision was \u201cfrankly wrong\u201d while fellow backbencher Andy McDonald added that the it \u201cwill be a very bitter pill to swallow\u201d for those affected. <\/p>\n In opposition, senior Labour figures<\/a> said compensation should be paid to women who had their retirement plans hit when their qualifying age for the state pension was delayed by six years to 66. <\/p>\n The Tories accused the government of performing a \u201cseries of handbrake turns\u201d and claimed the government could have compensated the women by scrapping its controversial Chagos Islands deal or reforming the rising welfare bill. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden apologised that the pension letters were not sent to the women sooner (PA)<\/p>\n Shadow Treasury minister Mark Garnier said that \u201cbefore getting into government, it seemed that Labour MPs did think that an injustice had been done.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cNo wonder therefore that the Waspi women who were promised so much are so angry. The people who used to stand beside them have turned against them. If the government really believed that these women had faced a great injustice, they would have found a way to compensate them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Steve Darling, the Liberal Democrat\u2019s work and pensions spokesperson, accused the government of putting Waspi women\u2019s pensions in the “too hard to do file\u201d and said many would feel the result \u201cas if it were a punch in the stomach\u201d. <\/p>\n In November, Mr McFadden said his department would review the previously-announced policy not to compensate the women. <\/p>\n He said \u201cevidence\u201d had emerged which had not be shown to his predecessor Ms Kendall, and <\/a>had to be considered. <\/p>\n In 2023 the Ombudsman released the findings of a five-year investigation and, in a damning assessment of the DWP handling of the issue, warned of \u201cmaladministration\u201d. <\/p>\n In a report it accepted that the department\u2019s poor communication caused some women to lose \u201copportunities to make informed decisions\u201d, although it made clear it did not believe it led to \u201cdirect financial loss\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Waspi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/5251fa2885802a36e49dc1e24beda61cY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzY5MTE3MDEz-2.78023911.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Work](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/28c7c03add34c4fe0be0dde8038b3a1eY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzY5NzcwNjM0-2.83135275.jpg\")
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