Abbott accuse the Prime Minister of not caring (Image: Getty)
Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott furiously lambasted the Prime Minister over the government’s decision to
Up to 100 Labour MPs could rebel against if MPs force a vote on the WASPI injustice in the Commons.
Ms Abbott issued a scathing rebuke of the Prime Minister for having “no feel for politics” over ministers’ decision not to award compensation to the 1950s women.
The longest-serving female MP accused him of not understanding how WASPI women feel.
Ms Abbott said: “Remember he’s on his big fat DPP [director of public prosecution] pension. What does he know about ageing women?”
Asked how Labour MPs were feeling about the decision, the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP told the programme: “I think a lot of MPs are very unhappy.”
The Express previously who had supported the Waspi women in opposition but who have been silent since the Government’s confirmation earlier this week.
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion in the Commons condemning the Government for its decision on WASPI compensation and urging them to change course.
Their pensions spokesman Steve Darling said MPs will vote to condemn the Government’s refusal to provide any compensation to women affected by changes to the age.
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Camapigner at a Waspi protest in October (Image: Getty)
In March, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended the Government pay compensation to women born in the 1950s whose age was raised so it would be equal with men.
The watchdog said the women should receive up to £2,950 each, a package with a potential total cost of £10.5billion to the public purse, as poor communication meant they had lost out on the chance to plan their retirement finances.
But the Prime Minister has insisted that taxpayers could not afford the £10.5billion compensation package.
But there have been calls for a vote or for Number 10 to reconsider.
Andy McDonald, who was shadow employment rights minister between 2020 and 2021, wrote to the Prime Minister to say “the Government has made the wrong decision”.
“I urge you to reconsider this decision in the interests of justice for women denied a fair settlement,” he said.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he was “deeply disappointed” by the “blanket” decision to not award compensation, and thinks that ministers “could have found a way forward”.
Labour MPs have been given a template letter to defend the WASPI decision to angry constituents.
It tells them to say that “providing blanket compensation for everyone, when the majority of women knew about the changes, simply wouldn’t be right”.
MPs have also been given “lines to take” in interviews about the awkward issue of cabinet ministers photographed with WASPI placards and campaigners.
The explanation given for a change of heart is that ministers have “looked into the communications issue in great detail since we entered government”.