Women are battling pension ‘injustice’
Lanarkshire women battling against an “injustice” in state pension changes took their fight to the Scottish Parliament.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those who listened to the campaigners.
The UK Government is being advised to pay out compensation to women born in the 1950s who are affected by the State Pension age change.
The Women Against State Pension Injustice (WASPI) campaign is calling for an immediate one-off compensation payment from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
They are fighting for justice after the Government changed pension plans as well as raising the women’s qualifying age to 65 in 2018.
This was much sooner than originally planned and no warning was given.
The change has affected 3.8 million women across the country.
In the Rutherglen Westminster constituency, over 5000 women are thought to be affected by the changes.
In 2021, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) ruled that the DWP failed to communicate the changes with enough urgency and found it guilty of maladministration.
The next stage of the PHSO’s investigation will consider the “impact that injustice had”.
Local WASPI organiser Anne Potter, from Burnside, was at the Scottish Parliament last week urging MSPs to sign their pledge calling for “fair and fast compensation for 1950s women”.
She said: “Going to the Scottish Parliament for our exhibition was a great experience and we had so much support from all parties. We were made to feel so welcome and the First Minister made a special visit to our stand.
“As a campaign group, we are simply hoping and expecting compensation to be awarded for the maladministration by the DWP.
“We are awaiting the outcome of the Ombudsman’s Stage 2 where we are sure it will be ruled that we’ve suffered an injustice.
“If and when our case is proven, the UK Government must agree to a compensation deal without delay.”
Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey added: “It was great to catch up with Anne at the WASPI exhibition in Parliament. She has been one of Scotland’s key campaigners in urging the UK Government to fix the pension injustices faced by 1950s-born women.
“With the Ombudsman already recognising the maladministration faced by the WASPI women, the UK Government must provide fair and fast compensation to end this injustice.”