A snap poll of 5,000 1950s-born women found 80% feel Labour and the Tories take them for granted and 85% think Nigel Farage’s Reform ‘don’t care’
WASPI women feel “totally abandoned” 10 years after launching their campaign, grim polling shows.
Four fifths said they believe Labour and the Tories take them for granted – while Nigel Farage ’s Reform fares even worse, with 85% believing they “do not care”. A snap poll of over 5,000 1950s-born women found 38% are unsure who they would vote for – or may not vote at all.
But 51% say they feel more motivated to vote at the next general election. In December last year the Government rejected a watchdog’s call for over 3.5million women to be awarded compensation.
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Angela Madden, who chairs the Women Against State Pension Inequality ( WASPI ) campaign said: “It is no surprise that WASPI women feel totally abandoned by those who once promised to right this historic injustice.
“After 10 years of campaigning, this generation of women are more determined than ever to secure the justice we are due. Despite the hopes of some, we are not going away.
“We know hundreds of MPs across the political parties back our calls for fair compensation, as do an overwhelming majority of the public. Ministers should heed the calls of many of their own MPs and get around the table with WASPI women, or face being forced to defend the indefensible in court later this year.”
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) called for payouts for 1950s-born women as a result of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) maladministration.
A bombshell report recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 after the DWP failed to notify those affected. But Keir Starmer rejected the move, which would cost up to £10billion.
Worst-affected women were plunged into poverty because they were unable to plan for their retirement. Campaigners are seeking a judicial review later this year.
The latest findings come as the campaign marks a decade since launching, during which time there have been six Prime Ministers. Boris Johnson vowed to bring the long-running saga to an end, but failed to do so.
The Government has accepted there was maladministration and apologised – but in December last year said a blanket compensation scheme could not be justified. Between April 2010 and November 2018 the State Pension age for women gradually increased from 60 to 65. It went up again to 66 in October 2020, and is due to go up to 67 by 2028.
Lawyers for the campaigners argue that the Government’s reasons for concluding that people should not receive any remedy are a breach of legal principles.
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