John Swinney tells WASPI women not to give up after 'disgusting' compensation 'betrayal'

Campaigners have met with First Minister John Swinney after branding a UK Government decision not to compensate women affected by the way changes to the state pension age were communicated “absolutely disgusting”.

The Government has faced a barrage of criticism from MPs over the decision, some of which is coming from within its own party.

One former pensions minister said the handling of the issue “sets an extremely worrying precedent”.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said the Government does not believe paying a flat rate to women at a cost of up to £10.5bn would be a fair or proportionate use of taxpayers’ money.

The Government has faced a barrage of criticism from MPs over the decision, some of which is coming from within its own party. STV News

Meeting WASPI women on Thursday at Holyrood, Swinney said he was “very disappointed” with the UK Government’s announcement.

He urged campaigners to continue putting pressure on decision makers in Westminster.

He said: “I think what’s got to happen is that there has to be a sustained amount of pressure maintained on the United Kingdom government about this.

“I don’t think any of us and I would certainly encourage you not to feel that this is somehow the end of the road.

“I would encourage you to continue and to sustain the pressure that you’re putting on.

“And we will do likewise. So at a number of different levels, we will do that formally as a Scottish Government, we will make, we will apply that pressure to the UK Government.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar branded the decision “deeply disappointing”.

He said on Wednesday: “I can completely understand, and I believe I was one of the ones that campaigned with them, had photographs with them, I was right to do that, I was right to campaign with them.

“I continue to stand with them in the face of their injustice.

“I think where there is justified frustration in the blanket no compensation position.”

Linda Carmichael, one of the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women, said: “We’ve been campaigning for over eight years, and we really thought our campaign was getting somewhere.

“This announcement from Liz Kendall is really a cruel blow to all of the work that we’ve put in over the years.

“You don’t go into a campaign looking what the end result will be exactly but you do hope that you’ll be treated fairly and injustices will be righted, which we have been promised by politicians over the years. And unfortunately, this hasn’t happened.”

Angela Madden, chairwoman of WASPI said the Government had made an “unprecedented” political choice to ignore the recommendations of an independent watchdog.

“This is a bizarre and totally unjustified move which will leave everyone asking what the point of an ombudsman is if ministers can simply ignore their decisions,” she said.

“It feels like a decision that would make the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump blush.”

Labour MP Brian Leishman said he was “appalled” at the decision to not provide financial compensation to the WASPI women.

The MP for Alloa and Grangemouth told the Commons: “Firstly I’d like to say I’m appalled at this announcement and I have campaigned with WASPI women, as have many parliamentary colleagues, and this is an incredible let down.

“WASPI women, in my opinion, certainly do not need words of disappointment and they certainly do not need hollow statements. What they need is justice. Does the secretary of state not agree with that?”

Asked about his discussions with Sarwar on the issue, Scottish secretary Ian Murray said devolution means it is possible for different parts of the UK to take different positions.

The Scottish secretary said: “We have discussed this and Anas is very much of the view that being in Government is difficult, particularly with the inheritance of the financial situation we’ve got.

“He understands the position of being in Government and he will do what he needs to do in terms of the position he wants to take in terms of the Scottish Labour Party because that’s the way devolution works.”

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Everyone understands that the public finances are under acute pressure, but the Government should not rub salt in the wounds of those impacted by suggesting there is no case for compensation.

“The fact that many of the women affected will also be coping with the loss of their winter fuel payment this year will intensify their sense of injustice.”

Unison head of equality Josie Irwin said the decision “is a cruel blow to a generation of women”, adding: “The Government must find a way to resolve this desperately unfair situation. Refusing to pay compensation is not the answer.”

The Government accepted the Ombudsman’s findings and has apologised for a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.

But it said evidence showed only one in four people remember receiving and reading letters that they were not expecting and that the great majority of 1950s-born women did know that the state pension age was changing.

In a statement, Liz Kendall said: “These two facts: that most women knew the state pension age was increasing and that letters aren’t as significant as the Ombudsman says, as well as other reasons, have informed our conclusion that there should be no scheme of financial compensation to 1950s-born women, in response to the Ombudsman’s report.

“The alternative put forward in the report is for a flat-rate compensation scheme at level four of the Ombudsman’s scale of injustice. This would provide £1,000 to £2,950 per person at a total cost of between £3.5bn and £10.5bn.

“Given the vast majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing, the Government does not believe paying a flat rate to all women at a cost of up to £10.5bn would be a fair or proportionate use of taxpayers’ money.”

Sir Keir Starmer said he understood the concerns of the WASPI women but the Government had to protect the taxpayer.

The Prime Minister told broadcasters: “I do understand, of course, the concern of the Waspi women.

“But also I have to take into account whether it’s right at the moment to impose a further burden on the taxpayer, which is what it would be.”