Taxpayers can't afford Waspi compensation, says PM

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended the determination to cull compensation for women deed by changes to the authorities pension age, arguing that the payer "simply can't spend the tens of billions of pounds" successful payments.

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

However, during Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir was repeatedly pressed connected the government's decision, with 1 MP calling for a vote.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) run group say that 3.6 cardinal women calved successful the 1950s were not decently informed of the emergence successful authorities pension property to bring them into enactment with men.

In 1995, the authorities accrued the pension property for women from 60 to 65, phasing successful the alteration betwixt 2010 and 2020.

The conjugation authorities of 2010 opted to velocity up the process, bringing guardant the qualifying property of 65 to 2018.

Waspi has been pushing for compensation antecedently suggesting that immoderate women should person £10,000 each, astatine a outgo of £36bn.

The existent government's determination not to grant payments comes contempt an autarkic authorities reappraisal successful March which recommended compensation of betwixt £1,000 and £2,950 for each of those affected.

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

"What we don't expect is for an acknowledgement to beryllium made by a nationalist assemblage that it's got it incorrect but past garbage to marque it close for those affected," she said.

Before this year's wide election, respective elder Labour figures had backed the run and Sir Keir himself signed a pledge for "fair and accelerated compensation" successful 2022.

In 2019, Angela Rayner, present the lawman premier minister, told the BBC: "They [the government] stole their pensions…we've said we'd close that injustice and wrong the 5 years of the Labour authorities we'll compensate them for the wealth that they've lost."

In the archetypal Prime Minister's Questions since the authorities announced they would not beryllium providing compensation, seasoned Labour MP Diane Abbott said the Waspi women had "fought 1 of the astir sustained and passionate campaigns for justness that I tin remember, twelvemonth in, twelvemonth out".

"Does the premier curate truly recognize however fto down Waspi women consciousness today?" she asked.

Ian Byrne, an autarkic MP, said the women were owed compensation for the "injustice done to them" and urged the premier curate to clasp a ballot connected the subject.

And Conservative person Kemi Badenoch said Labour had "played politics" with the radical by antecedently supporting their campaign.

"She [Rayner] promised to compensate them successful full... present they admit we were close each along."

Responding to the criticism, Sir Keir said the delays to telling women astir pension changes were "unacceptable".

"I'm acrophobic to accidental that taxpayers simply can't spend the tens of billions of pounds successful compensation erstwhile the grounds shows that 90% of those impacted did cognize astir it, that's due to the fact that of the authorities of our economy."

Following PMQs, a No 10 spokesperson said that since winning the election, the authorities had "had the chance" to look astatine the ombudsman's report, which said the women "faced nary nonstop fiscal nonaccomplishment arsenic a effect of the delays".

The authorities has said compensation could outgo up to £10.5bn.

But Ms De Spon said galore Waspi women "didn't know" astir the pensions changes, and added that adjacent to this time women were saying: "I ne'er adjacent received a letter, fto unsocial erstwhile I received a letter."

She added that erstwhile Conservative Chancellor George Osborne had saved much than £180bn by raising the authorities pension property and "boasted that it was easiest wealth helium had ever saved".

"We're asking for a tiny fraction of that backmost arsenic compensation for authorities failure," she said.

Diane Abbott is 1 of a tiny radical of Labour MPs objecting to their leader's approach. Kate Osborne and Emma Lewell-Buck person besides publically opposed the decision.

The SNP is calling for a ballot successful Parliament connected compensation. The party's Westminster person Stephen Flynn said: "Labour Party politicians posed with Waspi women earlier the predetermination lone to permission them precocious and adust erstwhile they got into government."

Earlier, Conservative shadiness concern caput Andrew Griffith besides said the determination was "a betrayal", adding that Cabinet ministers had "queued up, had their photograph taken with Waspi women, talked astir however they were going to remedy that injustice."

He said "we won't know" whether a Conservative authorities would person paid compensation arsenic they were voted retired of authorities earlier making that decision.

The past Conservative-run Department of Work and Pensions told the ombudsman astatine the clip of its study successful March wherefore it could not wage out.

It cited "the costs involved, the clip it would take, the magnitude of assets it would involve, and the antagonistic interaction delivering a remedy would person connected it being capable to support different services".

The Liberal Democrats had earlier said the stance "sets an highly worrying precedent" successful its rejection of the ombudsman's findings.