WASPI women let down, says Chichester MP

Chichester’s Liberal Democrat MP, Jess Brown-Fuller, has criticised the government’s refusal to compensate women left with inadequate pension provision because of the government’s poorly communicated pension changes.

Women Against State Pension Inequality, known as WASPIs, argue that insufficient communication of the pension age increase has left many women born in the 1950s with insufficient funds for retirement. The government announced this week that no compensation will be given to WASPIs, despite the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman ruling in March that thousands of women should be compensated between £1,000 to £2,950 each for the government’s maladministration in handling the pension changes.

Jess told the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall in the House of Commons that she had been expecting the government’s statement to be an early Christmas present for those women in her constituency born in the 1950s. Instead, they “will now understandably be devastated and will be asking the question that if the ombudsman has ruled that they were to have financial redress because of the maladministration and the government is willing to ignore that finding, what else is the government willing to ignore? “

After the government’s announcement, Jess vowed to continue to call on the government to allow MPs to have a vote in the House of Commons on the issue. The Chichester MP praised the determination of the WASPI campaigners and said their voices should be heard.