Suffolk WASPI women continue the fight outside Parliament

Planned to coincide with the Budget, the crowds chanted: “Ombudsman said you must pay – just get on, do it today!”, “Come on, Labour, no more fuss, just pay out what’s due to us!”, and “WASPI women die every day while you dither and delay!”

WASPI women made their voices heard in Parliament Square on Budget Day. (Image: Abygail Fossett)

WASPI women from all walks of life came together to protest. Pictured centre, WASPI Chair Angela Madden. (Image: WASPI)

WASPI was formed almost a decade ago, in 2015. (Image: WASPI)

WASPI explained

The WASPI scandal has been rumbling on for over 15 years.

It began when the Department for Work and Pensions decided to raise the age that women could claim their state pension from 60 to 65, to make it equal to that of men. 

However, women were not informed of this decision, until April 2009 – when they could have been contacted in December 2006.

Because of this delay, thousands of women were not able to adequately financially plan for the future, wrongly believing that they would be able to claim their pension a full five years before they could. 

WASPI women from Suffolk and across the UK travelled down to London on Budget day. (Image: Abygail Fossett)

Hundreds of people arrived at Parliament Square ready to protest. (Image: WASPI) WASPI women said that they were determined not to give in without a fight. (Image: WASPI)

Are you a WASPI woman?

Those who were affected by the government’s mishandling are women who were born in the 1950s.

As of March this year, there were 50,000 women in our county alone who could be entitled to compensation.

However, it has been estimated by WASPI that one such woman dies every 13 minutes.

Memories were shared by the Suffolk WASPIs who made the journey to London on Wednesday for the comrades they have lost along the way.

At 1pm, a minute’s silence was held for all those WASPIs who did not live to see justice serves.

The road to justice

A Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PSHO) spent 67 months investigating the matter, and in March concluded that women were indeed entitled to compensation. 

The report stipulated that women experienced a significant and/or lasting impact, which is level four on the scale, meaning they are intitled to between £1,000 and £2,950. 

What do Suffolk WASPIs think?

Karen Sheldon, one of WASPIs Suffolk coordinators, said their frustration with the new government is growing, as before the election the party had expressed a desire to see compensation awarded to impacted women.

Now that Labour are in power, however, progress has been negligible.

Members of Suffolk WASPI - Karen Sheldon, Angela Madden, chair of WASPI. (Image: Abygail Fossett)

“WASPI women are so disappointed and fed up at the delay by the Labour government at getting the Ombudsman’s report looked,” she said. “We have many, many MPs - over half the house -  who actually support WASPI women.

"Why is this delay taking so long? It’s been 223 days since the ombudsman published his report in March. 25,000 WASPI women have died in that time.

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"How much longer do we have to wait?”

Jacqueline Saunders was among those in London. (Image: Abygail Fossett)

Jacqueline Saunders agreed. “It would never happen to men,” she said. “This would never happen to those in private pension schemes either, so there’s a double injustice there.”

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Lorna Parrett explained that for her, this miscommunication has had enormous ramifications.

"I retired at 60 and expected to withdraw my state pension as I was promised - I was not told about the change, and didn't now about it until 18 months before I turned 60," she said. "I had retired on medical grounds, and I couldn't find another job.

WASPI member Lorna Parrett was among the many women that travelled to London. (Image: Abygail Fossett)

"So, everything came crashing down."

Ann Pether explained that pensions being changed in the name of equality was not the issue.

Ann Pether (left) with her friend Jenny. (Image: Abygail Fossett)

“We’re happy to get our pension when we’re 67, the same as men – but when I retired, I thought I was getting it at 60,” she said, explaining that this disparity meant that she, like thousands of other women, made plans for the future based on inaccurate information.

She continued: “Women born in the 50s haven’t had the same opportunities  or workers’ rights. We’ve already missed out – and now at the last minute, they’ve taken what we did have away. They didn’t follow the rules, but if we hadn’t followed the rules, we would have been in trouble.”

Janice Steel travelled from Durham to join the WASPI demonstration. (Image: Abygail Fossett)

Denise Sullivan agreed.

She has worked her entire adult life, starting from when she was 15. Mrs Sullivan took voluntary redundancy at 60 – but said that, had she known about the delay in receiving her state pension, she may have chosen to work for longer.

“I think not telling us about the changes was shameful,” she said. “I think if it was men who were affected, the attitude would have been different.”

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Judi Moss, Suffolk’s other WASPI coordinator, said that she, like so many others, simply wants an acknowledgement that WASPI women have been treated unfairly.

"I think the government thought we would just be quiet and go away,” she said, adding that WASPI will fight on until the bitter end.

“No person in this country should be shown disrespect by the government,” she said. “We simply want them to put their hands up and say sorry, and to give us what we should have been given a long time ago.”

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The day of protest concluded with speeches, opened by former shadow chancellor John McDonnell MP.

“Whether the government likes it or not, we are going to win,” he said, to cheers and applause. “I’ll be with you until we win and we secure justice.”