Labour's Andy Burnham backs ‘recompense’ for Waspi women affected by pension change

The Greater Manchester mayor told a hustings in Makerfield he was “uncomfortable” with the way some politicians had expressed support for the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign but then failed to deliver.

While Labour was in opposition, senior party figures including Sir Keir Starmer backed the campaign, which claims the way an increase in the state pension age was communicated was unfair.

But in office, the party has refused demands for compensation from the group, most recently ruling out payments in January.

At the hustings on Wednesday, hosted by the Manchester Evening News, Mr Burnham said: “I have long supported the campaign and I feel uncomfortable when politicians were all holding up their banner and then got into government and didn’t do anything.

“So I stick by the campaigns that I support. I stuck by the Hillsborough families and I will stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.”

The Waspi campaign argues that women born in the 1950s should be compensated for receiving inadequate notice of a change in the law in 1995 that increased their state pension age from 60 to 65, bringing it in line with the pension age for men.

But with the campaign estimating 3.6m women were affected, the bill for compensation could run into the billions.

A report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950, meaning the total could be more than £10 billion.

The PHSO investigation found that while communication of the changes between 1995 and 2004 met the expected standards, the government ought to have carried out a targeted campaign after that date, writing to affected women.

Earlier at the same hustings, Mr Burnham criticised the treatment of young people by Westminster, saying they were “targeted for cuts” through the student loans system.

He said: “I saw Westminster make young people the target for cuts, most obviously over student loans.

“And I look at what’s happening, people graduate now, they pay off, well they think they’re paying off, but the loan is actually getting bigger.

“It’s unbelievable how national politics has treated young people.”

He added: “You cannot have a strong society where you make young people the target for cuts, the next generation. You have got to make them the priority for investment.”

Interest rates on student loans have become a major issue in Westminster over the past year, with graduates on the “Plan 2” scheme claiming the loans were mis-sold and calling for an overhaul of the system.

The by-election candidates are: Jake Austin (Liberal Democrats), Count Binface (Count Binface Party), Andy Burnham (Labour and Co-operative Party), Dan Clarke (Libertarian Party), John Dyer (independent), Ed Gemmell (Climate Party), Paul Gould (independent), Howling Laud Hope (Official Monster Raving Loony Party), Rob Kenyon (Reform UK), Robert Pownall (independent), Rebecca Shepherd (Restore Britain), Sarah Wakefield (Green Party), Peter Ward (Rejoin EU Bring in PR) and Michael Winstanley (Conservative).