Women against state pension inequality are pressing ahead with fresh legal action against the Government after being told for a second time in January that they will not receive compensation. The campaign group says ministers were given a fortnight to answer concerns raised by lawyers in March, and that the next stage of its challenge will go ahead if those objections are not addressed.
Angela Madden said the Government has had every opportunity to do the right thing for Waspi women. Instead, she said, it had made a political choice that risks alienating voters in hundreds of marginal seats across the country. Her warning came as the group said recent local election losses should be read as a sign of the anger still building over the refusal to offer payouts to women affected by state pension age changes.
The dispute is now back in court territory after the group instructed lawyers in March to flag what it describes as legal errors in the Government's handling of the issue. That renewed push follows the rediscovery of a 2007 Department for Work and Pensions evaluation that had led officials to stop automatic pension forecast letters at the time. The discovery triggered a review of the original decision not to provide redress, but ministers kept their position and refused to offer compensation.
The stakes are not small. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman previously said payments of between £1,000 and £2,950 would be suitable for each woman affected by the communication failures around state pension changes. The Government has already acknowledged wrongdoing in how the matter was handled, yet it has still drawn the line at payouts. In March, a DWP spokesperson said the Secretary of State had set out the Government's position in an oral statement to Parliament, including acceptance of maladministration and an apology to the women affected.
For Waspi, the fight is no longer only about money. It is about whether ministers can admit fault and still refuse to put it right. Madden said the party now has a clear choice: listen to Waspi women and compensate them fairly, or face the consequences at the next general election. She added that the campaign will keep going, saying: 'We will not be ignored, and we will not give up this fight.'
The answer to the question hanging over the dispute is plain enough. Despite acknowledging maladministration, the Government has maintained its refusal to pay compensation, and that decision has now pushed Waspi into a fresh legal battle that could test both ministers' reasoning and Labour's patience with an issue that has not gone away.
