SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar has joined campaigners in their condemnation of the UK Labour Government following their announcement today that they will reject any compensatory payouts to women who missed out on pension increases.
Whilst in opposition, Labour supported an independent review to compensate the Women Against State Pension Inequality. It is believed some 3.6 million women born in the 1950s in the UK were not correctly informed of the rise in state pension age. However, Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendal today announced that Labour will now reject any compensatory payout.
The decision has been described as an insult by some campaigners following the Minister making the claim today that most women “knew” the state pension age was increasing and therefore it would not be fair to compensate them.
Following the announcement, Alasdair Allan commented:
“With just over a week to go until Christmas, this was a shameful decision by Labour for the near 2000 WASPI women who live in the Western Isles.
“The independent ombudsman couldn’t have been clearer on the need to compensate these hard-working women. It’s simply shameful for Labour ministers to come to the House of Commons and ignore these clear recommendations.
“Sadly, under Section 28 of the Scotland Act (2016) the UK Government prohibits the Scottish Government from mitigating this injustice for WASPI Women in Scotland. However, both myself and other SNP MSPs and MPs will continue to campaign for these women who have been passed over by the Tories and now Labour.
“Despite being elected on a manifesto of ‘change’, this appears to be yet another Labour-dealt blow to our pensioners. I urge Scottish Labour MPs, should they have any influence, to argue against this unjust decision.”