'Gaslighting and incompetence': North East Waspi women slam Government over state pension row

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign has spent a decade fighting for millions of women born in the 1950s who it says were not given adequate warning of their state pension age being lifted from 60 to 65.

Last December, the Government sparked accusations of betrayal when it said it would not pay compensation – despite it being recommended by a parliamentary ombudsman who had ruled that the Department for Work and Pensions failed to adequately communicate the changes.

But work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden confirmed on Tuesday that his department will review the decision, saying that a piece of evidence was not shown to his predecessor Liz Kendall and needed to be considered.

The undisclosed evidence, which comes just weeks ahead of the Waspi campaign’s High Court challenge, was a 2007 research findings by the DWP on the effectiveness of automatic pension forecast letters being sent out.

Mr McFadden cautioned, however, that the review will not necessarily lead to a U-turn on the compensation denial.

Christine Smith, coordinator of the Newcastle, Wear, and Tees Waspi group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she believed ministers were “kicking the can down the road” ahead of a High Court hearing which had been scheduled for December 9 and 10.

The 71-year-old, of Kingston Park in Newcastle, said: “I think it is gaslighting and kicking the can down the road. How can the minister say that they didn’t know about the 2007 survey? It is Government incompetence.

“The Government has been using taxpayer money to defend the indefensible. The ministers should have been fully briefed and if they weren’t, then why not?”

Asked if she believed that Waspi women would be compensated, she added: “We are not going away until it happens. We are the victims here, not the Government. Compensation should not be dependent on the public purse – they did it for the postmasters, and the Windrush victims, and the blood scandal, so why not the Waspi women?”

Waspi campaigners have so far raised more than £250,000 to fund their legal battle. Waspi chair Angela Madden said it was “scandalous” that Government officials did not show Ms Kendall the 2007 report.

She added: “It has said it will reconsider, and this time the minister will be shown the withheld report. Why did that not happen in the first place? Why was that basic mistake not admitted when WASPI began its legal case? Why has the reconsideration not already happened?

“We do not know the answers to these questions yet. But we do know the Government is desperate to avoid a judge scrutinising its decision-making and so backpedalling away from the imminent hearing.”

Mr McFadden told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the review was being launched “ in the interests of fairness and transparency”.

He said: “As the house will be aware the decision announced last December has been the subject of court action in recent months and we have today informed the court of the action we now intend to take.

“We will approach this following proper process and in a transparent and fair manner. However, retaking this decision should not be taken as an indication that the Government will necessarily decide that it should award financial redress. The work will begin immediately, and we will update the house on the decision as a conclusion is reached.”