By GB News (World News) | Created at 2024-12-18 13:41:24 | Updated at 2024-12-18 16:22:12
2 hours ago
Britons have reacted with fury to the Government's decision not to compensate Waspi women, with many expressing deep disappointment over the "broken promises" from the Labour party.
One furious retiree told GB News: "They've betrayed the pensioners again and again. Every time the Labour get in, they punish the pensioners.
"They took away the 10 per cent. They have now taken away our fuel allowance, they're just a nightmare."
Another critic stated: "They [Waspi women] should get compensation, there is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind.
"It's not fair. I've worked 60 years of my life and I think I deserve a better pension, and so did the other people who have done the same."
The Government has rejected calls to pay compensation to over 3.5 million Waspi women, despite previous recommendations for payouts.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall faced jeers in the Commons as she announced there would be no compensation scheme for the women.
"The Government does not believe paying a flat rate to all women at a cost of up to £10.5billion would be fair or proportionate to taxpayers," she told MPs.
The Government has rejected calls to pay compensation to over 3.5 million Waspi women
GB News
The announcement marks a significant blow to women born in the 1950s who say they did not receive adequate warnings about changes to their state pension age.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) had recommended compensation payments between £1,000 and £2,950 for each affected woman.
The changes impacted an estimated 3.6 million women who expected to receive their state pension at 60 but had to wait another five or six years.
Many claim they were not properly informed of the changes to the state pension age, which gradually increased from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and November 2018.
The PHSO found that affected women should have had at least 28 months' more individual notice of the changes by the Department for Work and Pensions. Campaigners say the average victim missed out on over £50,000 in pension payments.
Kendall explained the decision by stating that "most women knew the state pension age was increasing."
She argued that letters about the changes weren't as significant as the Ombudsman suggested.
The proposed flat rate compensation scheme, at level four of the Ombudsman's scale of injustice, would have cost between £3.5billion and £10.5billion.
