Fury after Labour rejects 'Waspi women' payouts

"Waspi" campaigners for women who are affected by the rising state pension age reacted with fury yesterday after the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, announced that they would not be compensated by the taxpayer.

- Heather Stewart

Kendall told MPs the government accepted the parliamentary and health service ombudsman's findings earlier this year that her department had failed to adequately communicate the changes. But she rejected its recommendation for a flat-rate compensation scheme, paying out £1,000 to £2,950 to each of the more than 3 million women affected.

Explaining the decision, Kendall pointed to survey evidence from 2006, suggesting 90% of women in the relevant age group knew about the planned changes.

She told MPS: "Given the vast majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing, the government does not believe paying a flat rate to all women at a cost of up to £10.5bn would be fair or proportionate to taxpayers." The chair of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign, Angela Madden, condemned the announcement.