EXCLUSIVE Waspi women warn Keir Starmer and Labour after £10.5billion betrayal If you thought wed go away quietly, youve really underestimated us
WASPI women have vowed to continue their fight for justice after Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to payout £10.
WASPI women have vowed to continue their fight for justice after Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to payout £10.5billion to millions of female pensioners.
Campaign organisers have refused to admit defeat after the government denied paying any compensation to an estimated 3.8million women born in the 1950s who were hit by state pension age changes.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended the women should be paid up to £2,950 each, although Sir Keir has insisted taxpayers cannot afford.
But Angela Madden, chair of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) group told MailOnline it was crazy for the government to say there was no money available.
We note that the train drivers got their pay rise and the miners got their payout. The only difference is that they are mostly men, she added.
Ms Madden has vowed to continue campaigning for compensation for those women born between April 6, 1950, and April 5, 1960, who were affected by a change to the state pension age from 60 to 65 between 2010 and 2020.
She said: We are not leaving it there. We are more determined than ever to get what we think is rightfully ours.
If they thought we were going away quietly then they have underestimated our skill, our ability, our tenacity, and even our intelligence.
Angela Madden, chair of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) group, has vowed to continue their fight for justice after Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused to payout £10.5billion to millions of female pensioners
Keir Starmer is facing furious backlash after his government announced it would not pay a penny to the WASPI women. Pictured: Keir Starmer posing with WASPI women campaigners in 2018
Ms Madden said the campaign group is considering every option available in order to continue their fight for compensation.
She said: Of course we are taking legal advice. We know what the government did was immorale but are there any [legal] challenges.
We are taxpayers too. We have the same rates as other taxpayers. We have been paying taxes longer.
I think you just have to look at Keir Starmers popularity. I dont know what he is trying to do. He is alienating the electorate.
Ms Madden also said campaigners were naive to believe Labour MPs was ever in support of WASPI women, despite some cabinet members publicly backing the campaign while the party was in opposition.
I think we have been naive. The politicians of today dont care about individuals.
I think they were never in support of us. I think we believed what they said at face value.
Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall are among the Labour frontbenchers who previously appeared in photographs alongside WASPI women to lend their support to the group.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves proudly posed for photographs in 2020 alongside Waspi campaigners
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has also previously shown her support for the campaign having posed with two WASPI women in 2019
Sir Keir claimed that research indicates that 90 per cent of those impacted knew about the changes that were taking place.
However, Ms Madden accused Sir Keir of cherry-picking the figures he referred to at the despatch box.
She said: This isnt just misleading; its an insult to millions of 1950s-born women who were blindsided by these changes.
The ombudsmans findings were based on rigorous evidence showing that 60 per cent of women had no idea their own state pension age was rising.
The Governments attempt to cherry-pick data to suggest otherwise is spreading dangerous misinformation, plain and simple.
Campaigners has slammed the governments decision to refuse compensation as bizarre and totally unjustified, with Starmer already facing a barrage of criticism from his own MPs.
There have been calls for a vote or for Number 10 to reconsider, while The Guardian reported that as many as 100 Labour MPs could rebel if it is put to a vote.
WASPI campaigners stage a protest on College Green in Westminster, London, as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers her Budget in the Houses of Parliament
WASPI campaigners stage a protest on College Green in Westminster, London, as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers her Budget in the Houses of Parliament
Sisters Norma Elkington, 67, Susan Dutton, 69, and Mary Waterhouse, 72, said they feel betrayed by the Governments decision.
Norma told ITV News: They just want us to die, to go quietly and die, Norma Elkington, 67, said.
Weve been going to demonstrations in London, and demonstrating in the cold and the rain, were doing it because we want to defend the weak.
We met women there who have had to sell their homes, where theyve lived all their lives. Theyve had to sell their possessions.
Meanwhile, Lesley Wright, 67, said she has still not received a letter about the changes to the state pension age and only found out through the media at the time.
She told MailOnline: I am absolutely furious. It is absolutely outrageous.
I was on a teacher pension so I am comfortable, but I have a couple of friends who really only have their state pension. One of them was in floods of tears last night.
This government is morally bankrupt. They have no shame. Where is their care and compassion?
Sisters Norma Elkington, 67, Susan Dutton, 69, and Mary Waterhouse, 72, said they feel betrayed by the Governments decision
Lesley Wright, 67, said she has still not received a letter about the changes to the state pension age and only found out through the media at the time
I think they think old people are worthless. I feel as though I have been pushed aside.
It is just one lie after another. One blow after another. First the heating allowance and now this. I feel this government hold old people in contempt.
Jan Clarke, 69, said the move was appalling and claimed the Government have put pensioners in the firing line following its decision to also scrap the winter fuel payment for elderly people.
Ms Clarke, who was diagnosed with cancer in her 50s and was left unable to work due to the side effects from the treatment and medication, claimed to have lost thousands of pounds following the increase in the pension age.
She said: It adds insult to injury. Again the government has misled people. I have never seen a government break so many promises. I dont think this government has any conscious.
It is a mess. It is far far worse than expected. It just seems they have pensioners in the firing line.
A lot of WASPI woman and pensioners have been tax payers for years. We already paid into the pot. I have paid into the pot.
I think [the WASPI scandal] is just going to wither on the vine and that will be the end of it.
Jan Clarke, 69, said Labours refusal to compensate WASPI women was appalling and claimed the Government have put pensioners in the firing line
On Wednesday, Sky News presenter Kay Burley got into a heated exchange with a minister live on-air while discussing Labours decision to deny compensation to WASPI women.
The broadcaster tore into communities minister Rushanara Ali as she was repeatedly challenged about previous Labour promises to compensate the WASPI women.
Ms Ali said going ahead with the £10.5billion pay package would not be fair or proportionate, adding that the Government was focused on improving the living standards of pensioners.
During the excruciating on-air spat, both women could be heard repeatedly talking over each other, with Burley urging the minister to stay on topic.
Burley was also quick to highlight how many pensioners feel betrayed by Labour after previously backing the campaign while the party was in opposition.
Burley said: Liz Kendall has been pictured with the WASPI campaign promising to deliver a fair solution, as has Rachel Reeves, as has Keir Starmer. Can you understand why people dont believe a word you say?
Ms Ali then replied: I go back to the point about the lessons that need to be learned, and the fact that this Government has apologised for that delay. But weve got to focus on the issues at hand, in terms of improving the living standards of pensioners.
Rachel Reeves has also defended the decision to block the compensation despite having previously been photographed backing the campaign.
Liz Kendall, who on Tuesday rejected the The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) watchdogs recommendation to compensate the WASPI women, poses with campaigners in 2019
The Chancellor said the massive payout was not the best use of taxpayers money and suggested only a small number of women has been unaware of the change.
Ms Reeves said: I understand that women affected by the changes to the state pension age feel disappointed by this decision, but we looked in full at the ombudsman recommendations and they said that around 90 per cent of women did know that these changes were coming.
And as Chancellor, I have to account for every penny of taxpayers money spent.
And given that the vast majority of people did know about these changes, I didnt judge that it would be the best use of taxpayers money to pay an expensive compensation bill for something that most people knew was happening.
