WASPI 2018 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2024
The WASPI 2018 Annual General Meeting was held online on 12 September 2024. The guest speaker was Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women, and long-time supporter of our campaign.
Rebecca thanked everyone for their work on behalf of the campaign. During the past year the Ombudsman’s final report had been published and there had been a change of Government, but there was still no resolution for 1950s women. The report – which was placed directly before Parliament –- vindicated our campaign and recommended compensation. However Labour had not mentioned compensation in their manifesto, and more than five months after winning the general election they were still “considering” the report.
Rebecca reported that the APPG had been reconstituted with many new and enthusiastic members. It aims to mobilise enough support from MPs to convince the Government to take action. The Chair of the Work & Pensions Select Committee had agreed to meet with them, but they were still waiting for a response from the Pensions Minister on the Government’s plans; and despite intense lobbying from supportive MPs, nothing about compensation for 1950s women had been included in the recent budget.
Rebecca advised the campaign to keep up the pressure on MPs and praised the BUZZ, our regular bulletin for MPs which is sent to them by constituents, as an effective vehicle for doing this.
WASPI Chair Hilary Simpson presented the Annual Report, which was accepted https://waspicampaign2018.co.uk/downloads
She agreed that the two most significant events of the past year were the publication of the Ombudsman's final report in March and the election of the new Government in July. She was pleased to have met the Pensions Minister in early September but disappointed that there had been no statement from the Government since, other than to say that they would respond ‘as soon as humanly possible’.
Media coverage of the Ombudsman’s report had been widespread and had stayed at a high level since. Campaign supporters had lobbied the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool and attended the Budget Day demonstration at Westminster on 30 October. Our biggest innovation this year had been the creation of the WASPI Swarm, a network of over 600 supporters who send the BUZZ to their MP every month, covering well over 50% of constituencies. Our social media statistics continue to grow, with the social media team working hard on our behalf.
Hilary thanked the Steering Group and local group co-ordinators for their work and commitment over the past year. She promised that the campaign would continue and hoped that real progress towards a compensation scheme for 1950s women would be achieved in the months to come.
A new Steering Group was elected https://waspicampaign2018.co.uk/steering-group
Rebecca Long-Bailey MP
CHAIR of All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women
NATIONAL WASPI RALLY BUDGET DAY 30TH OCTOBER 2024
RECORD NUMBER OF MPS ATTEND WASPI WESTMINSTER SESSION - 11th September 2024
1950s born women flocked from all over the UK to a rally outside Parliament on Budget Day 30th October to promote their claim for compensation. Despite WASPI representatives meeting with Emma Reynolds, Under-Secretary of State for Pensions on 5th September, the Government has not yet responded to the report of the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman of 21st March which stated that women born in the 1950s were due compensation for the lack of notice they were given by successive governments that their state pensions had been delayed by several years
A minute’s silence was held for the thousands of WASPI women who have died.
WASPI National Chair Hilary Simpson said: “Another Budget Day has come and gone with no news of compensation for 1950s women. It’s now over seven months since the Ombudsman published his recommendations. the Government must treat this as a matter of urgency; a WASPI woman is dying every 13 minutes.”
The women heard speeches of support from Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey, John McDonnell MP, Richard Burgon MP, Lord Bryn Davies (co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s State Pension Inequality) and Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the National Pensioners’ Convention.
RECORD NUMBER OF MPS ATTEND WASPI WESTMINSTER SESSION - 11th September 2024
RECORD NUMBER OF MPS ATTEND WASPI WESTMINSTER SESSION - 11th September 2024
Over 150 MPs attended a WASPI Drop-In information session at Westminster on 11th September.
“We were delighted to be able to speak to the MPs individually, answer their questions and make sure they are fully aware of the need for progress to be made on compensation as quickly as possible following the publication of the Ombudsman’s report almost six months ago,” said WASPI Chair Hilary Simpson.
“There are over 5,000 1950s women in the average constituency. It’s good that these MPs want to support them.”
The majority of MPs had their photographs taken with WASPI ‘pledges’ supporting the campaign for fair and fast compensation.
You can see if your MP attended here.
WASPI REPRESENTATIVES MEET PENSIONS MINISTER – 5TH SEPTEMBER 2024
WASPI REPRESENTATIVES MEET PENSIONS MINISTER – 5TH SEPTEMBER 2024
Representatives of both WASPI Campaigns were pleased to meet Emma Reynolds, Under-Secretary of State for Pensions, on 5th September. “We were able to question the Minister and clarified our ‘Ask’ for fair and fast compensation for 1950s women as recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman” said WASPI 2018 Chair Hilary Simpson. “This is the first time WASPI representatives have had a face-to-face meeting with a Pensions Minister since 2016 so it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”
A WASPI Drop-In information session for MPs will take place at Westminster on 11th September.
! SCAM ALERT !
WASPI REPRESENTATIVES MEET PENSIONS MINISTER – 5TH SEPTEMBER 2024
There are several scam websites going around at the moment pretending to provide compensation claim forms for WASPI women.
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THESE - THEY ARE PHISHING FOR YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
No compensation or compensation scheme has yet been agreed, unfortunately.
If you have given your personal data to a potentially fraudulent website please contact Action Fraud. https://www.actionfraud.police.uk
PARTY MANIFESTOS - GENERAL ELECTION - 4TH JULY 2024
This table shows the position of the main parties as set out in their manifestos for the 4th July 2024 General Election.
Public opinion supports compensation for 1950s women
A public opinion survey of over 2,000 adults undertaken for our sister organisation Women Against State Pension Inequality between the 3rd and 5th May 2024 revealed a high level of support for 1950s women’s call for compensation.
68% of respondents agreed that:
1) The Government should accept the conclusions of the Ombudsman’s investigation;
2) WASPI women have been badly let down by successive governments and the current government should have resolved this issue now;
3) WASPI women have waited too long for a resolution to the injustice they suffered.
Only 14% trusted Rishi Sunak to deliver fair and fast compensation for WASPI women and only 24% trusted Keir Starmer.
21st March - Ombudsman's - Final Report Published
The WASPI Campaign 2018 welcomes the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman’s findings that maladministration by the Department for Work & Pensions in the way it handled the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age resulted in injustice, and that compensation should be paid to the women affected.
We find it scandalous that the Department has refused to accept that maladministration occurred or engage in discussions on compensation, and on that basis we acknowledge that the Ombudsman has no choice but to take what they describe as the “rare” decision to refer the issue directly to Parliament.
We would however take issue with the Ombudsman’s suggestion that the appropriate level of compensation would be Level 4 on the Severity of Injustice Scale (ie £1,000 – £2,950) and will be urging Parliament to look at a higher level of compensation that is both fair and fast to implement.
We expect all political parties to make a clear statement of their position on this issue after considering the Ombudsman’s report. WASPI women need to know where the main parties stand.
WE NEED YOUR HELP - JOIN THE WASPI SWARM!
We continue to look for volunteers to email a copy of The WASPI BUZZ, our update for MPs, after the General Election, when new MPs will be in place. Parliament will be dissolved on May 30th so there will be no MPs but only Candidates.
If you’d like to volunteer, please email waspigroupnetwork@gmail.com with
1. your name
2. your email address
3. the name of your constituency (Please check boundary changes)
After the election, when our next issue of The BUZZ is ready, we will email it to you with instructions of how to forward it to your MP.
Thank you for your help.
DONATE
The WASPI Campaign 2018 is run by volunteers who give their time freely to fight for and on behalf of 3.8 million women who have been affected by the changes to our State Pension Age.
Help WASPI 2018 Fight for Justice
You can make a donation via a bank transfer to the Waspi Campaign 2018:
Name of Bank: Barclays
Account name: WASPI CAMPAIGN 2018
Sort Code: 20-55-41
Account No: 40052590
Reference: Donation
These funds will go directly to the WASPI Campaign 2018 and will be used to promote the campaign nationwide.
Your donation will also help with running costs which we will, of course, keep to a minimum.
All donations, however big or small, are most gratefully received and will help us to continue our campaign to achieve justice for all the women affected.