PAYOUTS FOR 3.8M WOMEN DENIED PENSIONS
Those born in 1950s could be in line for cash sums of up to £31,300 under new plan
£57BN LABOUR PLEDGE
LABOUR will today pledge £57billion to women who were denied state pensions.
Some 3.8million hit by pension age rises will get up to £31,300. Labour’s John McDonnell said: “We see this as a debt of honour.”
LABOUR today promises a pension payout to right a “heartrending” wrong felt by millions of women.
The party will pledge £57billion to compensate 3.8million women who were born in the 1950s and were hit by rises in the state pension age.
Now they will be eligible for sums of up to £31,000.
Lifting the threshold from 60 to 65 since 2010 had left many on benefits, while others had to work beyond the age they expected.
The pledge to rectify a “historic in justice” is made by the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and comes after women lost a High Court battle for justice. They claimed they did not have enough time to prepare for the age rise.
Campaign groups Women Against State Pension Inequality ( WASPI) and Backto60 have led the battle.
Mr McDonnell said of the so-called “Made in Dagenham” generation: “Some of the stories that I’ve heard around the country have been heartrending. People feel a sense of injustice that they’ve lost what they thought was a basic contract between them and the Government, about their pension and when they retire.
“They’ve worked all their lives and feel completely betrayed. They say ‘ We weren’t properly consulted or informed.’ Resentment built up – that’s understandable.”
The five-year policy will see women
born between April 6, 1950 and April 6, 1959 receive £100 for each week of state pension they have lost.
Anyone eligible will start receiving cash within months of a Labour victory at the December 12 election.
The news comes after PM Boris Johnson appeared to backtrack on a pledge to help the women.
Mr McDonnell added: “We’re not talking about reversing the retirement age here. We’re talking about making sure people get justice.
HONOUR
“Many have had serious financial consequences, some hit by poverty and stress, others having lost out what they feel they’ve contributed towards.
“Most of the women feel they’ve fulfilled their side of the bargain, but the Government tore up the contract without even telling them properly. There’s a real deep sense of injustice.
“There are many women whose plans were thrown out of the window by the Government.
“We’re treating this as a very special circumstance.
“It’s a historic debt, a historic injustice. We see this as a debt of honour that we have got to fulfil.”
Mr McDonnell said the £12.5billiona-year policy would be paid for out of normal taxation and be treated in the same way had the Government lost the High Court case. An online calculator will show how much women stand to receive and the money will be issued in instalments rather than a lump sum.
The pension age for men and women rises to 66 by next October, to 67 by 2028 and is expected to have hit 68 between 2037 and 2039.