WASPI women have been told they may receive £2,950 payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as compensation after all. Andy Burnham, who is likely to become the next Prime Minister if he wins the Makerfield byelection, has vowed to back the campaign.
Burnham's Commitment
Mr Burnham committed to his desire to reimburse millions of women born in the 1950s who claim they were not properly informed about an increase in the state pension age. The update from the Labour Party Mayor of Greater Manchester came on Wednesday night. Mr Burnham said he felt “uncomfortable” that some politicians threw their support behind a cause but then went into government and “didn’t do anything”. Mr Burnham added: “So I stick by the campaigners that I support. I stuck by the Hillsborough families, I’ll stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.”
The WASPI Campaign
The Waspi campaign claims 3.8 million women born between 1950 and 1960 were not adequately made aware of the change in state pension age from 60 to 65. The Ombudsman report, released two years ago, recommended compensation worth £2,950. But Labour refused to pay out, to much fury. He said: “I do understand, of course, the concern of the Waspi women, but also of course I have to take into account whether it’s right at the moment to impose further burden on the taxpayer, which is what it would be.”
Political Implications
It comes amid reports Keir Starmer’s closest aides are “war-gaming” how to win a leadership contest ahead of Burnham’s much-anticipated return to Westminster. “Keir may be determined to fight any challenge. But when it comes to it, he might not have a choice. As one former prime minister put it, when the herd moves, it moves,” a loyalist minister said. Steve Reed, one of the cabinet ministers most loyal to Starmer, said he was convinced the prime minister would fight any leadership contest, and that he should even offer Burnham a job if he wins in Makerfield. “I know how he feels, because we speak to each other, and he is determined to deliver the change that he was elected to deliver,” Reed said. “He led us to one of the biggest landslide victories in our party’s history [four years after becoming leader]. A man that can deliver that kind of change in that period of time is not a man that lacks determination.”
