Jamie Stone ‘shocked and astonished’ as Waspi women are denied compensation
Jamie Stone has said he is “shocked and astonished” that women affected by changes to the state pension age will not be receiving compensation.
He accused the UK government of turning its back on millions of pension-age women who were “wronged”.
Some 3.8 million women born in the 1950s have been affected, leading to the formation in 2015 of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign.
The group claimed that “1950s women have been singled out for unfair and unequal treatment because of the way the increases to our state pension age have been brought in”.
Mr Stone, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, said he and his fellow Liberal Democrats had pushed for years for payouts.
However, the work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has announced the government does not believe that paying a flat rate to women at a cost of up to £10.5 billion “would be fair or proportionate to taxpayers”.
Earlier this year, a parliamentary ombudsman had recommended compensation of between £1000 and £2950 for each person affected.
Mr Stone said: “I am shocked and astonished by Labour’s failure to deliver. Faithfully made promises have now been broken, and the government should be ashamed that it has turned its back on millions of pension-age women who were wronged, ignoring the independent ombudsman’s recommendations.
“For years, myself and my Liberal Democrat colleagues have pushed the government to fairly compensate Waspi women in line with the ombudsman’s recommendations.
“As chair of the petitions committee, I have agreed to debate this massively important issue in the new year. I, myself, will have a lot to say on the matter.”
Waspi has advocated for support for women who were born in the 1950s and say they did not get adequate warnings about changes to the state pension.
Waspi campaigners have described the government’s announcement as an “insult” and “totally unjustified”.
Ms Kendall did accept the ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and has apologised for a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
Speaking in 2021, Mr Stone said: “Since I became an MP in 2017, women from Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross have been helping me to bring to the UK government’s attention the disgraceful situation they were plunged into.”
