SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Alasdair Allan has called on the new Labour Minister for Pensions to begin the process of making compensatory payments to all women detrimentally affected by changes to the State Pension age (commonly referred to as the WASPI women).

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign was founded in 2015 on behalf of women born in the 1950s who were affected by the changes to the state pension age. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s position is that the Department for Work and Pensions’ refusal to compensate affected women is unacceptable. The injustice faced by WASPI women was highlighted once again by the SNP in the House of Commons last week.

Alasdair Allan has joined colleagues in urging the new Labour Government to honour their pre-election commitment to compensate the WASPI women, commenting:

“Sadly, the power to compensate the WASPI Women is reserved to the UK Westminster Government. However, both SNP MPs and MSPs have been resolute and consistent in calling for this injustice to finally be corrected.

“Back in April 2024, the Scottish Parliament passed a motion demanding justice and full compensation to the WASPI Women. Nearly 2000 WASPI women reside in my constituency, so I was delighted to see the motion passed. However, it was disappointing to see Scottish Labour, once a leading party on women’s rights, abstain in voting for justice. 

“Since 2019, the UK Labour Party have reneged on their pledge to rightly correct this injustice and compensate these women. However, SNP MPs and MSPs will keep the pressure on Labour to honour their historic commitment to correct this injustice.

“UK Labour have expressed their desire to ‘reset’ relations between Governments in Edinburgh and London, and I believe working with the SNP Government to correct this injustice would be a good starting point for all.” 

ENDS