Waspi Budget snub 'punch in chin', says campaigner

Jill Robertson (far right) part of the Northamptonshire Waspi group was among the protesters in Westminster

A campaigner from the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group describes the issue of compensation being excluded from the autumn Budget as a "punch in the chin".

Around 40 members of the Northamptonshire branch joined other Waspi groups from around the UK outside Westminster while Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave her Budget speech on Wednesday.

Among them was Jill Robertson, the coordinator for Northamptonshire, who expressed her disappointment. She said: "It's another punch in the chin that we haven't had any reference to it in this Budget, and that's what we were looking for."

The Department for Work and Pensions said it would continue to listen to Waspi and take on feedback.

Waspi was founded in 2015 to fight "for justice for all women born in the 1950s" affected by the changes to the state pension age.

Many women were affected when previous governments decided to raise the pension age from 60 to 65 in 1995 and later to 66 in 2012.

The change left them without the retirement income they had originally anticipated.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman published a report in March that stated the Department for Work and Pensions had failed to adequately communicate changes about the women's state pension age.

Ms Robertson added that she was not "devastated" by the Budget snub "because it's not surprising.

"They missed us off once again, and they've been doing that certainly for the last three years."

Around 40 members of Northamptonshire Waspi, including Mary Jones (centre), protested in London on Wednesday

Mary Jones, who is also a member of the Northamptonshire group, said it was "absolutely amazing" to be at Westminster on Wednesday.

"We were doing our best to make them aware that we were there," she said.

"We were bitterly disappointed, but thankfully quite a few of the MPs came out afterwards and spoke to us and gave us so much hope.

"They told us to keep going, and that is exactly what we are going to do. We are never going away."

Waspi groups are considering their next steps, which include possible legal action.

But Ms Robertson was hopeful the government would tackle the issue after it committed to more than £13bn of compensation to those involved in the infected blood and Post Office Horizon scandals in the budget.

"Different people have got a different idea about how it can be tackled," Ms Robertson added.

"These groups that want to go to court will only hold up everything else, so really going to court will take a long time.

"I'm hoping that the actual way to go would be a similar way to what they were discussing in 2019."

It it believed about 3.5 million women have been affected by the pension state changes in 1995 and 2012

In 2019, Labour proposed that women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1955 would be paid £100 for each week of entitlement lost.

Those born between 6 April 1955 and 6 April 1960 would receive smaller amounts.

The maximum compensation would be £31,300, with an average payment of £15,380.

"This was a serious report, requiring serious consideration," a spokesperson at the Department for Work and Pensions said.

"We will continue to listen respectfully to the women involved and ensure we take on board any lessons learnt."