A Court of Appeal decision to reject calls for women’s pension age changes to be reversed has been described by Edinburgh West MP Christine Jardine as a setback to thousands of women in the city but said she is sure their campaign for compensation will continue.
More than six thousand so-called WASPI women in Edinburgh West and three million across the UK who were born in the early 1950s have been hit hard by changes in their pensionable age which many say they were never made aware of until it was too late to change their retirement plans.
Two affected women took the UK Government to court calling for the age change to be reversed but the Court of Appeal have on Tuesday unanimously dismissed claims that it was an unlawful discrimination or a breach of human rights.
The Liberal Democrat MP says that The Scottish Government has refused to use its powers under the devolution acts to top up social security benefits to mitigate the impact of pension changes, despite their claims of supporting the women.
Following the Court’s ruling, Ms Jardine commented: “I know the women will be hugely disappointed but the main thrust of the campaign has always been to get some form of compensation or support for the millions of women who were affected. I am sure that will continue.
“Many of the women have been pinning their hopes on today’s appeal, but I am sure that they will not give up and neither will I give up making the case for them to get the support that they deserve.
“The UK Government should have acted a long time ago: Boris promised to sort it out and the Scottish Government must use the powers, they’ve been given under devolution to mitigate the difficulties these women are facing.”
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
