Today's decision by the Department for Work and Pensions not to compensate WASPI women is nothing short of a national disgrace, a callous abandonment of 3.6 million women who have been systematically failed by their own government.
After months of delay, countless promises to "review" the situation, and a letter signed by 100 MPs from across 10 different parties, ministers have arrived at exactly the conclusion they always intended: that the financial hardship, broken retirement plans, and shattered lives of millions of 1950s-born women simply don't matter.
After months of delay, countless promises to "review" the situation, and a letter signed by 100 MPs from across 10 different parties, ministers have arrived at exactly the conclusion they always intended: that the financial hardship, broken retirement plans, and shattered lives of millions of 1950s-born women simply don't matter.
This is not a difficult decision arrived at after careful consideration. This is a predetermined political choice dressed up as a process. The government cynically dragged this review through December and January, offering false hope to women in their 60s and 70s, only to deliver the same heartless answer they gave in the first place. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found maladministration. They determined these women were wronged. They recommended compensation. Yet ministers have chosen to ignore an independent ombudsman's findings, setting a dangerous precedent that undermines the entire accountability framework of government. The excuses are as insulting as they are transparent.
We're told there's no money, yet billions have materialized for policies not even mentioned in the election manifesto. When something is a priority for this government, funding appears. The message is clear; 1950s-born women are not a priority. These women paid into the system their entire working lives. They played by the rules. They were then denied adequate notice of changes that fundamentally altered their retirement plans, forcing many into poverty, forcing them to continue working into their late 60s, and robbing them of the dignity they earned.
This decision demonstrates utter contempt, contempt for these women, contempt for Parliament, and contempt for the principles of justice and fairness that should underpin our democracy. The fight is not over. Every legal avenue must be pursued. Every parliamentary mechanism must be deployed. This shameful decision cannot be allowed to stand.
To the WASPI women: You have been betrayed, but you have not been defeated. Your cause is just, and justice delayed is not justice denied, it is justice that demands we fight harder.
Alan Irwin
Branch Secretary
GMB Northants
We're told there's no money, yet billions have materialized for policies not even mentioned in the election manifesto. When something is a priority for this government, funding appears. The message is clear; 1950s-born women are not a priority. These women paid into the system their entire working lives. They played by the rules. They were then denied adequate notice of changes that fundamentally altered their retirement plans, forcing many into poverty, forcing them to continue working into their late 60s, and robbing them of the dignity they earned.
This decision demonstrates utter contempt, contempt for these women, contempt for Parliament, and contempt for the principles of justice and fairness that should underpin our democracy. The fight is not over. Every legal avenue must be pursued. Every parliamentary mechanism must be deployed. This shameful decision cannot be allowed to stand.
To the WASPI women: You have been betrayed, but you have not been defeated. Your cause is just, and justice delayed is not justice denied, it is justice that demands we fight harder.
Alan Irwin
Branch Secretary
GMB Northants
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