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Waspi activists warn of legal actions on DWP ‘Gaslighting’

Waspi activists warn of legal actions on DWP ‘Gaslighting’

Waspi activists threaten legal actions against the Government on changes in state pension age.

The activists of the Group of State Pensions inequality (Waspi) are threatening legal actions against the Government unless they reconsider their decision to reject compensation for women affected by changes in the age of the state pension.

Millions of women born in the 1950s saw their age of state pension raised, aligning it with that of men. While a control agency recommended compensation for these women, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has declared that taxpayers cannot pay the potential cost of £ 10.5 billion.

Waspi has sent a “letter before the action” to the Department of Labor and Pensions (DWP), warning about the procedures of the Superior Court if the matter is not resolved. This Protocol Charter prior to the action indicates the intention of the group to follow legal actions if the Government does not reconsider its position.

Angela Madden, president of the group, said that members will not allow the “gas lighting” of Waspi’s women of the DWP to go “unanswered.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Jane Barlow/Pa)

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Jane Barlow/Pa)

Waspi activists say that government reasons to reject the report of the defender of the parliamentary people and health service (PHSO), which discovered that women should be paid up to £ 2,950 each, are “legally wrong.”

The group, which has launched a Crowd Justice campaign of £ 75,000 to finance legal actions, says the government has 14 days to respond before the case is presented.

The Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Rachel Reeves and the Secretary of Labor and Pensions, Liz Kendall, who ruled out a compensation package, are among the high -ranking ministers that supported the Waspi campaign when the work was in opposition.

Around 3.6 million women in the United Kingdom were affected by the change, announced for the first time in the 1990s, to align their retirement age with men.

This accelerated later under the government of Conservative Liberal Democratic coalition more than a decade ago.

However, there was a 28 -month delay in writing to inform them of the changes, so the government accepted and apologized.

The government highlighted an investigation that indicates that, by 2006, 90% of women born in the 1950s knew about changes in the state pension age.

Waspi activists have affirmed that women suffered financial difficulties and had to rethink retirement plans.

Labor deputy Brian Leishman has criticized the government for not providing financial compensation to Waspi women, and on their approach to the Grangemouth oil refinery (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Labor deputy Brian Leishman has criticized the government for not providing financial compensation to Waspi women, and on their approach to the Grangemouth oil refinery (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA wire)

Mrs. Madden said: “The Government has accepted that women born in the 1950s are victims of poor administration, but now says that none of us suffered injustice.

“We believe this is not just an indignation but legally incorrect.”

She added: “We have been successful before and we are sure we will be again.

“But what would be better for everyone is if the Secretary of State now watched meaning and came to the table to resolve a compensation package.

“The alternative is the continuous defense of the indefensible, but this time in front of a judge.”

A government spokesman said: “We accept the discovery of the Ombudsman of Mala administration and we have apologized for having a 28 -month delay in writing to women born in the 1950s.

“However, the evidence showed that only one in four people remembered having read and having received letters that did not expect and that by 2006 90% of women born in the 1950s knew that the state pension age was changing .

“The previous letters would not have affected this.

“For these and other reasons, the government cannot justify paying a compensation scheme of £ 10.5 billion at the expense of the taxpayer.”

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