[Jimbuna]

Taxpayers can't afford Waspi compensation, says PM

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended the decision to reject compensation for women hit by changes to the state pension age, arguing that the taxpayer "simply can't afford the tens of billions of pounds" in payments.

He added that "90% of those impacted knew about the changes that were taking place".

However, during Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir was repeatedly pressed on the government's decision, with one MP calling for a vote.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign group say that 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not properly informed of the rise in state pension age to bring them into line with men.

In 1995, the government increased the pension age for women from 60 to 65, phasing in the change between 2010 and 2020.

The coalition government of 2010 opted to speed up the process, bringing forward the qualifying age of 65 to 2018.

Waspi has been pushing for compensation previously suggesting that some women should receive £10,000 each, at a cost of £36bn.

The current government's decision not to award payments comes despite an independent government review in March which recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 for each of those affected.

Rebecca Hilsenrath, head of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which wrote the review, told Times Radio that although the government had accepted that it had delayed writing to 1950s-born women by 28 months, and apologised, it had rejected paying compensation.

"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," she said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy85edy0nxo