Sir Keir Starmer has defended the decision not to compensate women affected by the pension age change – saying it would “burden” the taxpayer.
The Prime Minister said he understood the concerns of Women Against State Pensions Inequalities – often known as the Waspi Women – but that their demands were not affordable.
He was speaking after Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall apologized for a 28-month delay in sending letters to people born in the 1950s affected by state pension changes .
However, she said she did not accept compensation being paid.
Follow politics lately: Reaction to the Waspi decision
Ms Kendall said “the vast majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing” and that a state-funded payment would not be “fair and would not bring value for taxpayers’ money” .
The announcement was branded a “day of shame” by the Liberal Democrats, who accused the Labor government of “turning its back on millions of pension-age women who have been wronged”.
In the mid-1990s, the government passed a law to raise the retirement age for women over a period of 10 years to make it equal to that of men.
The coalition government then accelerated the timetable as part of its cost-cutting measures.
The Waspi Group says millions of people have suffered financially because they were not given enough warning to prepare for later retirement age.
Earlier this year, an investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) found that thousands of women may have been affected by the inability to adequately inform people of the change.
The watchdog suggested the women should receive compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 – but the findings were not legally binding.
Learn more:
What is a Wasp woman and what happened to her?
Ms Kendall said paying for this would have cost up to £10.5 billion, which is neither “fair nor proportionate”.
She also said she disagreed that sending letters earlier would have made a difference, saying research by the Ombudsman showed that “only around a quarter of people to whom one sends unsolicited letters actually remembers having received them or having read them”.“.
However, she acknowledged there had been poor administration in communicating the changes and pledged to “learn all the lessons” so this does not happen again.
Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Sir Keir said: “I understand, of course, the concern of the Waspi women. But I also have to ask myself whether it is appropriate, at this time, to impose an additional burden on the taxpayer, which would indeed be the case.”
Campaign group Waspi denounced the decision regarding X, reminding Ms Kendall that she had previously called for a “fair solution for all concerned”.
Women protest against changes to state pension
Angela Madden, president of Waspi, said refusing to compensate them was a “bizarre and completely unjustified decision”.
She added: “An overwhelming majority of MPs support Waspi’s calls for fair compensation and all options remain on the table. Parliament must now seek an alternative mechanism to place this matter on the Order Paper so that justice can be done.
Labor MPs were among those who criticized the decision in the House of Commons.
Gareth Snell, of Stoke-on-Trent Central, said today was a “sad moment” and called on the Government to rethink its stance if the economy improves.
Brian Leishman, representing Alloa and Grangemouth, said he was “appalled” by the refusal to compensate the women, calling it an “incredible disappointment”.