I think this Govt. are deliberately trying to make themselves unpopular.
They took all the photo ops they could with representatives of this group.
Now they have said that they won't pay compensation (no doubt hoping that many will pass away before the next election).
They said the country can't afford it. Just wait for large organisation to refuse compensation payouts using the same logic! ;-
I hope the Post Office lot get their claims in soon.
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SWMBO falls into WASPI territory. We were well aware of this long before it happened and paid into AVCs (not that they covered the loss).
We never expected this lot to cough up!
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I suspect that quite a few here will have affected partners - I know I have. Though although she reckons she didn't hear about it as early as others, she does say she knew for some time, so in itself that's not really the issue for her.
What she does feel aggrieved about is that she did suffer inequality of wages throughout her working life and then has lost probably upwards of £50k (she says) as a result of this decision.
I don't much like the way this govt is reneging on some of the promises it made to get itself elected. I know there is probably an inherited black hole and we have to tighten our belts blah blah but I can't imagine that many of the population fully agree with the way they are addressing it.
I also understand that many of the country's problems can't be fixed overnight but the progress feels like it's non-existent or in the wrong direction on some of them. The time will come when they can't carry on blaming the last government.
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A purely personal view - there was more than adequate notice of pension changes to rightly bring them into consistent alignment with men. They were not interested enough to take action then.
Pensions are perceived by many a burdensome deduction from salary - an attitude that only changes as retirement nears. The initial proposals were made in 1995 when the women affected were 35-45 years old - well before retirement concerns become reality. So I have little sympathy.
Sadly it is further evidence that the Labour Party would say or promise anything to win votes (WASPI were robbed etc) and now fail to deliver on expectation.
I am not suggesting any of the other parties behaved materially better during the election (half truths, empty promises aplenty etc). It is now utterly clear Labour are fundamentally have no more integrity or decency than any other. A great shame!
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Equality is a double edged sword.
Women's Rights? Some you win sometimes you lose
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Mrs Z has been a WASPI woman all her life.
Being serious, she knew, I knew, a pension is not something you sort out in the last few years of your working career, so this shouldn't have had too much material effect
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If statistically, women are still, on average, living longer than men, how come they can receive their State Pension at the same age ?
Shouldn’t it be slightly later ?
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Are the photos of Labour politicos with Waspi protestors recent? What did the 2024 manifesto say?
In 2019 under Corbyn there was commitment to compensate ALL Waspi women at a cost way in excess of the £10billion for the cohort affected by the Ombudsman's decision. If the pictures relate to that era then it's somewhat dishonest to use them to imply a promise from the current era is being broken.
Everman/woman and their dog knew or should have known pension ages were to be equalised and later raised. The people whom the Ombo found had suffered maladministration were a subset affected much later when the timescale for the change was shortened and/or the age pushed out to 66.
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"Are the photos of Labour politicos with Waspi protestors recent? What did the 2024 manifesto say?"
Fair points, the 2024 manifesto apparently didn't mention it.
www.retirementline.co.uk/news/what-do-the-2024-general-election-manifestos-say-about-waspi/
And this BBC article www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gj5r3d71ko has a pic which says he supported the WASPI women when in opposition, which I suppose you could infer should carry on to when he is power but he can change his stance.
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Given the masks are worn I'm going to say that picture was around 2020 and not evidence of a more recent commitment.
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A little googling suggests that Starmer, Rayner, Reeves and Co were very supportive of WASPI claims until mid/late 2023.
They then became non-committal - probably reflecting their likely accession to government. When actually faced with the prospect of responsibility for real money, they declined.
I agree with their conclusions - but it illustrates a lack of integrity and decency in political behaviour - Labour are no different in their pursuit of power from all other parties. Rather sad!!!
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>Are the photos of Labour politicos with Waspi protestors recent? What did the 2024 manifesto say?
Totally irrelevant as far as Joe Public is concerned.
They've seen Starmer, Rayner et al leading the WASPIs to believe that a Labour Govt would compensate them and now they've been elected they've double-crossed them.
Any excuses about manifesto contents or arguing the semantics of what or wasn't said or meant would be a big mistake.
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>> Totally irrelevant as far as Joe Public is concerned.
Your right of course but no party is bound for ever by the policy positions it took in the past.
The Tories after all were once very gung ho about the EU. Margaret Thatcher was one of the progenitors of the Single Market.
And look at them now.
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>>
If statistically, women are still, on average, living longer than men.
I think it's something like 83 for women and 76 for men.
I'm thinking of transitioning !
Ted
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>> I'm thinking of transitioning !
Presumably thats because you have a nice view from your kitchen window ?
I’m outta here :-)
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 19 Dec 24 at 14:45
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Yup, Herds of Wildebeest , etc.
Friend of mine, widderwoman, 80 yrs, recently got a phone call from DWP. They put £16K in her account for some pension underpayment. Not sure if it was Waspi related but it was very welcome, she's always a bit skint.
Ted
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>>Friend of mine, widderwoman, 80 yrs, recently got a phone call from DWP. They put £16K in her
>>account for some pension underpayment. Not sure if it was Waspi related but it was very
>>welcome, she's always a bit skint.
That good to read Ted.
£16k - It's probably over the savings limit (I don't know) but it may be worth her looking in to Pension Credit if she's always a bit skint?
Also, there are some benefits that OAPs can get like attendance allowances if they need help with certain chores around the house.
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>> £16k - It's probably over the savings limit (I don't know) but it may be
>> worth her looking in to Pension Credit if she's always a bit skint?
>>
>> Also, there are some benefits that OAPs can get like attendance allowances if they need
>> help with certain chores around the house.
I'm not over the detail of it but I've read somewhere that there was an historic SNAFU with moose aspect of the 'old age' pension, possibly to do with widows and inheriting husband's pension under the pre 2016 scheme's. Compensation as ever was slower than a very slow thing.
As to Pension Credit it's a top of the State Pension to ensure folks have enough for a decent lifestyle. If Ted's friend has weekly income from the state pension and any other sources is less than £218.85 then they may get Pension Credit. The £218.15 can be higher in some circs for example if they're a carer or are looking after children.
There's no capital limit as such for Pension Credit though it starts to be nibbled away if you've more than (IIRC) £10k. A lump sum for arrears of benefit should be disregarded, at least for a short period.
That's Guarantee Credit. Some older people can also get what's called Savings Credit which, counter intuitively, gave extra money to people to people who'd saved or paid into exra pensions in their old age.
Attendance Allowance is for people over pension age who need help with bodily functions either by day, by night, or both. It's not means tested and the application process is relatively straightforward.
As ever CA or other outfits like Age UK can advise.
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One of those things that it's really easy for parties to show their support for injustices. They can safely shout and have lots of sad face photos. Then when you're in gov, completely ignore it.
Any pollsters looking at why people say things like 'they're all the same' ' they say one thing and another' etc, look no further then this.
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WASPI Women - bathtub tom
