Meeting of the Parliament 01 May 2024
I thank the First Minister for bringing this debate to the chamber. I know that many folk heard him speak at Clare Haughey’s event with WASPI women the other week, and his passion for the issue is very clear. I had the pleasure of meeting some Aberdeen WASPI campaigners at Clare Haughey’s event: Linda and Helen, who have campaigned very hard for justice. I always enjoy meeting them, but I would like to meet them under different circumstances—after they have been paid the compensation that they rightly deserve.
We must look very closely at the scenarios. These women, many of whom had built their lives around a specific retirement plan, were forced to keep working for years longer than anticipated, in many cases. That was not just an economic hardship; it was a betrayal of trust. It is estimated that almost 356,000 women in Scotland were impacted by the WASPI pensions scandal. Many of those women were already in ill health. Others had taken early retirement and were planning to get by until the age of 60, when they thought that they would receive their state pension.
The UK Government continues to argue that communication happened, but let us be clear that the rug was pulled out from underneath those women’s feet. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has judged that the UK Government failed to adequately inform thousands of women that the state pension age had changed.
The WASPI women are not asking for handouts. They are asking for recognition of the burden that was placed on them and compensation for the additional years that they worked. The strength and perseverance of the WASPI women are an inspiration. They have raised their voices, and it is time for the UK Government to listen and, more important, to act. We have heard from some speakers today about a need for more dialogue, but now is not the time for more dialogue—there has been too much dialogue. It is time to compensate these women.
All of this is not just about the past, but about the future. We cannot allow similar situations to happen again. Transparency and clear communication about pension changes are absolutely essential. Supporting the WASPI women is also about ensuring that today’s working-age adults do not have their pensions whisked away by the swish of a Westminster ministerial pen. Let us be crystal clear that, if the Tory Government—and, maybe, a Labour
Government to follow—gets away with this outrage against the WASPI women, it will be coming for the pensions of the rest of us next. Just today, the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, refused to rule out raising the state pension age to 75. What happened to the WASPI women sets the stage for what Westminster may well do next. If it gets away with its outrageous treatment of the WASPI women, it will try it on with everyone else. Let us make sure that the WASPI women get justice. Let us compensate these women now.