Given the UK Government have now admitted there is fresh evidence that calls into question their original decision not to compensate the WASPI women, I have written to the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Pensions, Torsten Bell MP, asking for clarity on their recent U-turn on compensation.
However, Waspi women are concerned that all is not what it seems as Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has not committed the government to any firm financial redress for WASPI women as a result, just a pledge to consider this new evidence.
They are worried this may be ‘a stalling tactic’ to defer the judicial review with several constituents who have been affected by this shameful social injustice expressing concerns that the review being carried out by the UK Government may have an impact on their own judicial review, which is scheduled for next month.
This begs several questions – is the UK Government running scared of being scrutinised in court? Is this major U-turn on their part a way to distract from this High Court challenge?
And importantly, why was this ‘new evidence’, which has necessitated the review referred to by the Secretary of State, not included in the advice given to his predecessor – surely a major failing on the part of the department?
Finally, what sort of timeline are we looking at for this government review? Because shocking statistics show that 4000 WASPI women in Scotland have died since 2020, which equates to 2 a day dying without justice while Labour dithers and delays on honouring the ombudsman’s findings.
No wonder WASPI women are concerned. They have been treated appallingly by the UK Government throughout this whole process. I will continue to fight their corner as I have done from the very beginning alongside my SNP colleagues. This may have been an issue made by the Tories, but it is very much Labour who have made it worse. This is their moment to right this wrong. I hope the Pensions Secretary can assuage these concerns in clear and certain terms.
