‘Disappointed’. ‘Difficult decisions’. ‘Lessons learned’.
“Disappointed”. “Difficult decisions’. ‘Lessons learned’.
These were the tired platitudes exchanged in Parliament yesterday as Liz Kendall threw WASPI women overboard.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman took six years examining the behaviour of the Department for Work and Pensions () following the 1995 Pensions Act, which increased the Age for 1950s-born women to 65.
The painstaking investigation found that ignored their own research in 2004 that three in five women did not know their age was set to increase to 65.
The Department then failed to do anything about it.
This was clear maladministration, and the Ombudsman concluded compensation was due to all 1950s-born women affected.
These mistakes took place long before Parliament legislated to raise the age again in 2011, yet Labour loyalists chose to spend 90 minutes yesterday, casting off blame to the Coalition government which came to office in 2010.
We are not ‘disappointed’. We are devastated and betrayed.
Warm words about learning lessons for the future are cold comfort to the 3.6 million women who had their retirement plans turned upside down by government incompetence.
Meanwhile, what is the point of having an independent Ombudsman if ministers can simply dismiss their conclusions with ‘we don’t agree’? It’s the kind of craven disgrace that would make or blush.
But all is not lost. We are now considering fresh legal action.
And at a political level, we are demanding that individual MPs heed the Ombudsman’s recommendation that Parliament itself implements a compensation scheme.
A cross-party, backbench solution is still possible.
MPs have taken control of the Commons agenda before.
The Labour MPs who have pledged support to WASPI over the years must now link up with the Lib Dems, and Conservatives to do so again.
If WASPI campaigners have proved anything in the last nine years, it’s that we will not give up on a fight. Now it’s for MPs to lead the people’s revolt so justice can finally be done.