The Government’s refusal to compensate has produced strong reactions on social media – not least from Labour MPs.

“The Conservatives with the Liberal Democrats stole this money from those women who were born in the 1950s… Millions of women have been plunged into poverty and don’t just want handouts by social security – they want their money back and quite rightly so… We will right that injustice.” That was Angela Rayner MP, now Deputy Prime Minister, back in 2019.  Today the Government is taking a very different line.

Six years after Labour MPs gave a standing ovation to a Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) protest in Parliament, Keir Starmer’s Government has decided to deny compensation to up to 3.8 million women affected by changes in the women’s state pension age.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves defence of the U-turn was that “I didn’t judge that it would be the best use of taxpayers’ money to pay an expensive compensation bill for something most people knew was happening.”

In response the Waspi campaign tweeted: “Pure sophistry on the part of Rachel Reeves MP. The DWP’s own research showed that nearly 70% of #WASPI women did not know about the change to pension age. That is what the Govt’s own watchdog found and what she is choosing to ignore.”

The Government’s decision has provoked a furious reaction. Beth Winter, former Labour MP for Cynon Valley, tweeted: “I was elected to Parliament in 2019 in a Labour Party committed to compensate Waspi women. Today’s decision by UK Labour govt to reject any compensation is a disgrace. The Labour Party has changed. I haven’t.”

Neil Findlay, former Labour MSP said: “What’s a disgrace – utterly shameless betrayal of the WASPI women.” He added: “Why is it ‘difficult decisions’ by Starmer’s Government always leaves the working class poorer?”

Momentum agreed: “A cruel act of betrayal.” Likewise Apsana Begum MP and  Zarah Sultana MP: “A cruel betrayal.” And Clapham and Brixton Hill Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP: “Another betrayal of WASPI women.” Jon Trickett MP said: “I agree.”

“Our message to the Prime Minister: remember the pledge you made when you were so happy to be photographed alongside the WASPI women,” said Jeremy Corbyn MP. “This isn’t over. The WASPI women will have my full support until they receive the compensation and justice they deserve.”

Social media is today awash with photos of senior Labour members, including Keir Starmer MP, Yvette Cooper MP and Lisa Nandy MP, endorsing the legitimate demands for compensation for the Waspi women.

Richard Burgon MP agreed that the fight goes on. “Just last month I joined the Waspi women outside Parliament to again show my solidarity against the gross injustice they have faced,” he said. “And I will continue to stand with @WASPI_Campaign until this terrible wrong is put right.”

Ian Byrne MP tweeted: “I have long stood with the 50s-born women in West Derby fighting for pensions justice and I will continue to do so. Today’s decision not to award compensation for yet another injustice at the hand of the state is wrong. The fight will continue.”

Labour’s Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash has also broken ranks, saying the decision is wrong and “flies in the face of… previous statements of support from the Labour Party.”

Ian Lavery MP said: “The announcement today is quite frankly unacceptable. I will continue to fight for justice for all of the women involved in this injustice.”

Nadia Whittome MP pointed out that the  Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman had ruled that the women were owed compensation due to the way that the Department for Work and Pensions’ handling of pension changes had left many financially unprepared. “This historic injustice should be recognised and righted,” she said.

The Campaign for Socialism, voice of the Scottish Labour left, said: “What a cruel decision taking away hope to women who have been let down by the state and had their pensions stolen.”

Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman said in Parliament that he was “appalled”. He added later: “I stood up in Parliament today and criticised this decision because it’s wrong. Let’s be clear, compensating Waspi women for their state pension is justice. It’s correcting a failure of government that left millions of women blindsided.”

South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck expressed shock and disappointment, saying: “When I said I stood with Waspi women, I meant it… I will continue to work with colleagues across Parliament to make the case for Waspi women.”

Former Labour Director of Policy under Jeremy Corbyn Andrew Fisher said the decision “sets a really bad precedent if Government ignores the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman when it recommends compensation for maladministration by the state.”

Rebecca Long-Bailey MP agreed, saying: “The report was clear – ignoring most of its findings is virtually unprecedented, and I fear a very worrying new precedent has now been set for the importance placed upon the Ombudsman as a vehicle for holding Governments of all stripes to account in the public interest. This remains a historic injustice that must be resolved and this must be revisited urgently.”

Lord Prem Sikka agreed, tweeting: “No point of an independent report if recommendations ignored.”

Clive Lewis MP added his voice: “An independent Ombudsman recommended paying just a quarter of the compensation the women have been campaigning for, and the government has ignored even that. I know many women who’ve battled this injustice for years, and I very much doubt they’ll go quietly now. I’ll continue to stand with them.”

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP warned that the Waspi women “will consider this to be a betrayal and I doubt if they will just go away quietly.”

Image: “I’m proud to announce that Labour will compensate women who were unfairly hit by the rise in the state pension age and give them the justice they deserve.” – Jeremy Corbyn MP 2019. Source: Meeting with women born in the 1950s. Author: Jeremy Corbyn,  licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.