To govern is to choose, and the blatant duplicity shown by Members of Parliament on the Labour Government benches – who, time and again in Opposition, said they clearly supported the WASPI women and their long running campaign, only to abandon them as soon as they were elected – has been truly appalling. The decision to provide no compensation was this Labour Government’s decision and they need to properly own it.
Nevertheless, constituents do continue to write in urging me to push the Labour government to reverse its decision not to award compensation to women impacted by changes to the state pension age. As I have expressed in my earlier statements on this topic, I remain deeply disappointed with the way the Government has chosen to handle this issue. I have also repeatedly called out the Government's unfair approach to pensioners, arguing against their cut to the Winter Fuel Payment which I am glad to see has now been reversed.
In November 2025, as many constituents may know, the Labour Government announced they would now be reconsidering their decision on compensation for the WASPI women in light of evidence cited by the WASPI campaign during legal proceedings that a report produced in 2007 had not been considered by the Secretary for State at the time. This is an extremely disappointing situation I recognise. Not only is it extraordinary the 2007 report was overlooked, given that it is referred to in the Ombudsman’s report, it is high time a settled resolution was reached so the women affected by this finally know where they stand. While they should have followed the proper process in making their decision, dragging it out into yet another year is incompetent and deeply unkind. I am aware the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, reopened the decision in order to consider all the evidence including the 2007 report and I know many campaigners had hoped for a different outcome.
Speaking in the House of Commons, however, Mr McFadden has now said that although the Government accepted letters outlining the change could have been sent earlier, no payouts would be made.
He said: “The evidence shows that the vast majority of 1950s-born women already knew the state pension age was increasing, thanks to a wide range of public information, including through leaflets, education campaigns, information in GP surgeries, on TV and radio, in cinemas, and online.
“To specifically compensate only those women who suffered injustice would require a scheme that could reliably verify the individual circumstances of millions of women.
“As for a flat rate scheme that would cost up to £10.3bn and would simply not be right or fair given it would be paid to the vast majority who were aware of the changes.”
We have already seen this Government hit pensioners’ pockets with their winter fuel payment cuts, and then U-turn in shame afterwards so it’s understandable many WASPI campaigners hoped for another U-turn. However, I was always very concerned that, given their complete failure to control the benefits bill and their decision to lift the two-child benefit cap, the Labour Government would struggle to afford to compensate WASPI women even after many more months of uncertainty and anxiety.
Whilst I am very aware it is not always easy to make decisions in Government, elected Members of Parliament should always start from a position of good faith with their electorates. Overpromising and then going back on your word helps nobody. To that end, I will endeavour to use whatever opportunities are available to me in Parliament to support measures which improve the financial circumstances of all pensioners and will resist any efforts by the Government to further erode hard-won benefits, like the Winter Fuel Allowance and Triple Lock, which have done so much to lift pensioners out of poverty in recent years.
It’s time this Labour Government stopped letting pensioners down and started treating them with the respect they deserve.
