Council does not back motion

CAMPAIGNERS have reacted with fury after Tory county councillors voted down a motion supporting a women’s pension campaign.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality asks for transitional support for women born in the 1950s whose retirement age changed without adequate notice, with not enough time to prepare for retirement.

A motion asking Leicestershire County Council to back the campaign was put forward by Liberal Democrat councillors Michael Mullaney (De Montfort, Hinckley) and Linda Broadley (North Wigston).

It was backed by Labour councillors but was voted down by Conservative representatives on the council.

The motion has so far been backed by 138 councils, including Leicester City, Oadby and Wigston, and Rutland County Council.

Cllr Michael Mullaney who seconded the motion said : “I’m very angry that Conservative County Councillors voted it down.

“The thousands of local women affected by these pension changes deserved better.”

Cllr Broadley said: “I was shocked by the Conservative councillors’ behaviour in voting down the motion.

“At Oadby and Wigston Council, all parties supported the WASPI women.

“I would have thought that party politics could have been put aside at the county council too in order to help the WASPI women.

“The Conservatives have let these women down.”