Andy Burnham has ruled out paying compensation to the “Waspi women” who claim they lost out due to changes to the state pension age, but he has indicated openness to offering them other benefits. The Greater Manchester mayor had previously suggested he backed compensating as many as 3.6 million women born in the 1950s, some of whom argue they lost thousands of pounds because they were poorly informed about the changes.
However, following a backlash over the billions a compensation scheme would cost, a spokeswoman for Burnham clarified on Thursday that he intended to explore alternative offers, such as subsidised transport. Ministers stated last year they would not provide any compensation to the affected women, despite a March 2024 ruling by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman that they should be compensated.
Burnham was reported to have told a Makerfield byelection hustings event on Wednesday that he would “stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.” Yet, a spokeswoman for the Labour leadership hopeful told the Financial Times that Burnham considers the compensation case closed but believes there might be other gestures to assist the generation affected.
“He accepts the final decision has been made in relation to financial compensation but has indicated an openness to considering similar schemes on the Greater Manchester model,” the spokesperson said on Thursday, adding that he had “supported Waspi women in the city-region with early access to concessionary travel, providing some recompense to them within affordability limits.”
The government argued that any flat-rate compensation scheme paid to all women born in the 1950s would cost up to £10.3 billion and “would simply not be right or fair,” given that most women reported being aware of the changes. However, campaigners contended they were left with unaffordable retirement plans after the coalition government accelerated the pension age increase from 60 to 65 and then to 66.
The Waspi campaigners, supported by numerous Labour MPs in opposition and parties like the Liberal Democrats, assert that many women did not receive the required communication about the change, and some discovered their state pension age had risen by several years only after leaving work.
At the hustings for the byelection, where Burnham aims to return to Westminster with his sights on No 10, he criticized the government for appearing to renege on promises made to the Waspi women. Compensation was not in the Labour manifesto, but the cause had been repeatedly backed by Labour MPs standing for office.
“I have long supported the campaign. And I feel uncomfortable when politicians were all holding up that sort of banner and then it got into government and didn’t do anything,” Burnham said, according to the Manchester Evening News. “So I stick by the campaigns that I support. I stuck by the Hillsborough families. I’ll stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.”
