UP to 100 Labour MPs could rebel against the UK Government’s decision to rule out giving compensation to Waspi women if a vote is held, it is being reported.
Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall confirmed on Tuesday there would be no compensation handed to women born in the 1950s who were not sufficiently made aware of changes to the state pension age.
The move went against a recommendation from the parliamentary ombudsman in March which suggested £1000 to £2950 should be paid out to each of the more than three million women affected.
The prime minister denied MPs a vote on the issue and told the Commons that taxpayers could not afford the £10.5 billion compensation package.
However, it is understood that the LibDems intend to press the Government to hold a vote which could see dozens of Labour MPs rebel, according to the Guardian.
One Labour MP called it the party’s “tuition fee moment”, given that so many leading party figures posed for pictures with Waspi women and vowed to deliver justice for them.
On Newsnight on Wednesday, veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott claimed Keir Starmer had “no feel” for politics and did not understand the impact of the decision.
“He has no feel for politics. Remember he’s on his big fat DPP pension. What does he know about ageing women?” Labour MP Diane Abbott rejects the PM’s insistence that he understands the WASPI women’s concerns about changes to the state pension age.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/v6YwjCkyin
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) December 18, 2024
Earlier in the day she had criticised the government during PMQs, saying: “We did promise them that we will give them justice.
"I understand the issue about the cost, but does the Prime Minister really understand how let down Waspi women feel today?”
As host Victoria Derbyshire quoted Starmer saying he did understand, Abbott said on Newsnight: “No he doesn’t.
“One thing about Keir is that he’s only been in the party a relatively short period of time.
“He was DPP [director of public prosecutions] until, I think, 2014 and he couldn’t have been a member of the party. Then he got parachuted into Holborn and St Pancras, didn’t have to contest for it. Then, because it was a safe seat, he didn’t have to fight for that.
“He has no feel for politics. He doesn’t understand how they [Waspi women] feel.
“Remember he’s on his big, fat DPP pension. What does he know about ageing women who will depend on the state pension?”
Ian Byrne, who is suspended by Labour and sitting as an independent, also told the chamber on Wednesday that the Waspi women were victims of an “injustice done to them at the hands of the state” and asked: “Will the Prime Minister give members the opportunity to vote on whether they believe Waspi women are owed compensation?”
Starmer did not address the call for a vote, saying instead: “I just set out the factual background and the percentage that knew about the change, and the simple fact of the matter is, in the current economic circumstances, the taxpayer can’t bear the burden of tens of billions of pounds in compensation.”
Downing Street later said it had “no plans” for a vote on the issue, insisting MPs had had “an opportunity to have their say” on Tuesday when the move was formally announced.
Meanwhile, SNP MP Dave Doogan blasted Starmer for yet another policy U-turn, branding him a “one-trick phoney” who “says one thing and does another”.
Although it was not promised in Labour’s manifesto, Starmer and members of his top team including Chancellor Rachel Reeves backed the Waspi campaign when the party was in opposition.
