SNP in Edinburgh say Labour have betrayed WASPI women

Cllr Lesley Macinnes has secured agreement that the Council Leader will write to all four Labour MPs in Edinburgh about the stance they have taken on matters relating to WASPI women.

WASPI stands for Women Against State Pension Inequality, and it is a campaign on behalf of women born in the 1950s whose retirement pension was delayed due to changes in the State Pension age.

All political groups except Labour backed the motion by Cllr Macinnes designed to shine a light on the matter of compensation for WASPI women once again. This is a matter for Westminster to deal with but

Cllr Macinnes said: “I am very pleased that the motion I brought forward asking the Council Leader to write to the Prime Minister and other key Labour cabinet ministers was passed with support from the SNP, the Greens and the Lib Dems. It is vital that the 15,000 WASPI women of Edinburgh feel strongly supported by their local government representatives in their continuing fight to get this disastrous betrayal reversed. I was disappointed however that our Tory colleagues chose to abstain on what could have been a strengthened cross-party vote and that Labour group could not bring themselves to support the SNP motion and by default their impacted communities.”

The Parliamentary Ombudsman inquiry found that an estimated 3.5 million women across the UK are affected. It is expected that this includes at least 15,000 women in Edinburgh.

Cllr MacInnes MOTION

“Council:

Deplores the decision of the UK Labour Government to withdraw all proposed support, as recommended by the Parliamentary Ombudsman report on this topic, to the estimated 3.5 million affected women across the UK. This will directly impact the 15,000 strong generation of WASPI women across Edinburgh.

Notes the WASPI campaign asked for a compensation of £10,000 for each affected woman and that the campaign has strongly condemned Labour’s decision.

Condemns in the strong possible terms Labour’s decision refusing to implement the recommendations of the Parliamentary Ombudsman who proposed compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 be paid to affected women who missed out on pension entitlement.

Notes each and every Labour MP pledged to support compensation for WASPI women.

Notes that the failure to support this pledge is an enormous, unjustified act of bad faith which will push yet more retired residents into poverty.

Notes that, despite the assertion by the UK Pensions Minister Liz Kendall that the Scottish government could vote on this matter if they chose, the Scottish Government has no power to do so, or to mitigate this decision, as outlined in Section 28, paragraph 211 of the explanatory notes to the Scotland Act 2016.  Scotland Act 2016 – Explanatory Notes

Council agrees that the Council Leader writes to every Edinburgh MP to demand they indicate clearly to us and their constituents whether they agree with this decision and how they can justify this against the background of courting WASPI campaigners and pre-election promises to rectify this inequality. Their responses will then be published in the Policy and Sustainability business bulletin, to allow all Edinburgh residents to see what position they hold.

Council agrees that the Council Leader writes to the Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Chancellor of the Exchequer to demand they reverse this decision and publish their responses in the Policy and Sustainability business bulletin.”