Banbury's WASPI women, who have lost thousands in pensions, will be represented at Westminster budget protest

The WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) are women were born in the 1950s who had their state pension age raised twice with little or no notice.

The WASPI organisation, campaigning for compensation for these pensioners, is gathering with many who have lost tens of thousands in pension income, at Westminster tomorrow (October 30) to protest the injustice on Budget Day.

Angela Madden, WASPI chair, said women affected will have lost an average of £40,000 through not having their state pension at 60, as they were promised.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman recommends compensation payments of between £1,000 and £2,950 – less than the amount (up to £10,000) WASPI has called for.

Nearly 300,000 WASPI women have died since the campaign began; one dies every 13 minutes. WASPI says the women accept equalisation of men’s and women’s pension ages but women of this era were not given enough notice to be able to change job structures in preparation. Recommendations to give fair notice were ignored and many had already taken retirement.

Valerie Tew from South Newington expressed anger at the situation. “The amount of compensation suggested is a joke. It is not enough. The government has stolen six years of my pension. The figures they are offering are an insult to us who have worked and put the money in the pot all of our working lives.

“First they steal from us then they take away our winter fuel allowance - they are thieves, plain and simple.”

Mrs Tew started work aged 16 as a secretary.

"When I had my children my husband kept paying my stamp so I could have a full pension when I retired, which should have been when I was 60.

"When I reached 60 my full pension was then not until I was 66 – my age today. So I have worked an extra six years and that is what they have stolen from me. Once I went back to work after having children I worked from home as a dog groomer so I was there for my children.”

Julie Turner said: “I’m a WASPI woman - now 65 I’m unemployed - who is going to employ a 65-year-old? My older friends got their pensions much younger and it feels totally unfair when our expectations were that we would retire at 60, having paid 30 years NI.

“Now we must wait until we are 66 and have 35 years’ contributions and soon the qualifying age goes up to 67. All this to get a pension that will barely cover basic living costs. I don’t believe women should get their pensions at a different age to men, that’s clearly not fair, but taking away all those years of expected pension at the drop of a hat was grossly unfair.

"I’m not capable of working full time and I haven’t been able to find a part-time job so I have to be a ‘kept woman’ which is an uncomfortable position to find myself in after years of work. And not everyone has a working partner. The compensation WASPI women are fighting for is a drop in the ocean compared to the amounts they missed out on and the government pocketed.”

See https://www.waspi.co.uk/background-information/