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Senior MPs have urged the Government to hold an urgent vote on compensation for women who say they lost out financially because of changes to the state pension.
Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaigners are furious that both the Conservatives and Labour have refused to commit to compensation, despite last month’s damning report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).
The report found that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) was guilty of “maladministration” by failing to inform women born in the 1950s that the state pension age would be pushed from 60 to 65, and later to 66.
Now, a cross-party group has written to Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride, demanding that MPs get to vote on the long-running issue.
The group of senior backbenchers backing the so-called Waspi women’s push for compensation told Ms Mordaunt and Mr Stride it was time to “deliver justice to those who have been waiting years for closure”.
The letter was signed by Tory MP John Penrose, Labour’s Debbie Abrahams, the Liberal Democrats’ Wendy Chamberlain, the SNP’s Joanna Cherry, the DUP’s Jim Shannon of the DUP and the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas.
The group said that the Government should “urgently commit” to a formal compensation scheme, before MPs vote on the proposal.
Ms Chamberlain, the Liberal Democrats’ work and pensions spokesperson, said it was time for Mr Stride to “set out a clear timetable for delivering compensation and to allow Parliament to debate and vote on any proposals they bring forward”.
“With 3,000 Waspi women dying since the release of the parliamentary ombudsman’s report last month, we simply cannot afford to wait any longer.”
The PHSO report, which came days before Parliament’s Easter recess, recommended up to £2,950 for women affected by the pension changes. Waspi campaigners have demanded at least £10,000 each.
The ombudsman also said it was now up to Parliament to vote on a compensation scheme to provide “remedy” to the millions of women affected by the pension change.
Angela Madden, the Waspi campaign chair, told i that she was encouraged meetings with several Tory backbenchers held on Tuesday.
“They know that the Government cannot ignore this issue for much longer, and know it has to be addressed,” she said. “The Conservative MPs we’ve spoken to are broadly supportive [of a vote on compensation].
“But we haven’t been able to get a meeting with ministers – it appears they have gone into hiding. The silence is very frustrating.”
Ms Madden and fellow Waspi campaigners are set to meet with Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall’s team on Thursday in the push for a vote.
“Labour is respectfully engaging,” she said. “We’re pushing at an open door with the other opposition parties, but we’ve very keen to engage Labour.”
SNP MP Alan Brown has put forward a Private Members’ Bill aimed at setting up a compensation scheme for Waspi women, which is set to get its second reading in the Commons on Friday.
But Mr Brown told i he could not see the Bill making any progress unless the Government agrees to the principle of compensation.
“I would love this to be the case, but I cannot see the Tories doing so,” he said. “That won’t stop myself and colleagues from putting pressure on.”
More than 225,000 people have signed an online petition and open letter to Ms Mordaunt, echoing calls for a Parliamentary vote on compensation.
Labour declined to comment on the call for a vote on compensation. A DWP spokesperson said: “We are considering the ombudsman’s report and will respond in due course, having cooperated fully throughout this investigation.”
