David Linden: The view from Westminster

Many of these posts celebrated the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women – and rightly so. The day acts as a reminder of the huge progress made on the road to equality, but also of the distance still to travel.

I spent a big part of the day with women from the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign, who had descended on Parliament to continue protesting their treatment by successive UK governments – speaking at their rally and hosting a meeting between them and Scottish MPs. These 1950s-born women have been robbed of the retirement they deserve and their fight for justice has been going on for far too long.

The WASPI campaign was formed in 2015 by a group of women affected by State Pension age changes. The Pensions Act 1995 increased the future State Pension age for women from 60 to 65, in order to equalise it with that of a man. Years later, the Pensions Act 2011 accelerated this increase so that it would happen sooner, and brought forward an additional increase to 66. Many women were not properly informed about these changes by the UK Government and therefore had insufficient time to plan for their retirement.

These legislative changes have had a significant impact on affected women, including financial hardship and health issues. Around 3.8 million women have been affected, with some losing up to £47,000 in income. Many of the women affected have faced other roadblocks which have stopped them from being able to prepare adequately for retirement, such as being excluded from company pension schemes. The lack of transitional arrangements by the British Government has made it difficult for affected women to plan for their retirement, causing stress and anxiety.

We do not need to look far for evidence of the impact on the WASPI women. New research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies just this week shows that women born in the early 1950s have an average private pension income which is around 45% lower than men their age.

To this day, women born in the 1950s are still adversely hit by the British Government’s failure to address the injustice of the acceleration of the increase to the State Pension age. The Tories have repeatedly rejected calls for fairer transitional arrangements, stating that it would cost too much. As we have seen during the pandemic though, money can always be found when there is political will.

In 2016, the SNP produced an independently researched report which presented five options to the UK Government that would have allowed them to reverse their mistakes and deliver dignity in retirement for the WASPI women. Our research found that this could be done at a fraction of the cost the UK Government has been perpetuating.

The UK Government ignored that research and instead continued the gross injustice served to the WASPI women, plunging many of them into poverty instead.

When it comes to ignorance of gender inequalities in our pension systems though, this is pretty much par for the course for Westminster.

There is still a significant gender pension gap which could have been greatly narrowed by now had successive UK governments actually listened to experts and acted swiftly.

Measures such as extending the workplace pension automatic enrolment threshold for low-paid workers would have a huge impact. It’s something I’ve been calling on the Government to do, literally for years, yet it is only in the past week that we’ve seen some movement from them on this.

If the Tories were actually serious about levelling up, they’d get real about tackling the injustice of the gender pension gap, both for those already retired and for those who have just started building a pension pot.

The WASPI women have been robbed of the retirement they deserve and their fight for justice has been going on for far too long. The cruelty and negligence of the British Government has meant that women have had to keep on fighting and although their tenacity is enviable, they should not have to battle intransigent British governments to get what they are entitled to.

The Conservatives have had enough time and enough chances to put this right, yet have failed by every measure to step up and do the right thing. The current leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, signed the WASPI pledge back in 2017 yet swiftly abandoned the WASPI women once elected. None of the 1950s-born women deserve to have been treated with such utter contempt and disdain.

Although it’s regrettable that many years later we’re still pursuing justice, for so long as it takes, the WASPI women will have the continued support of myself and of the SNP.

Ultimately though, it wasn’t Scottish independence that put their pensions at risk. The same people who scare mongered about that are nowhere to be found now when it’s clear it is Westminster which has picked the pockets of the pensioners they told to vote No.

Remember the WASPI women. Support the WASPI women. And don’t let Westminster ever tell you that it cares about Scotland’s pensioners after the way they’ve treated the WASPI women.

From: Stacey Mullen Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2023 2:53 PM To: Stuart Sandler ; Heather Graham ; Stewart Ward Cc: Marissa MacWhirter Subject: FW: 10 March 2023 - The View from Westminster Send subbed copy to marissa Stacey Mullen Glasgow Times Editor Newsquest Media Group 125 Fullarton Drive Glasgow East Investment Park G32 8FG T: 0141 302 7506 E-mail: Stacey.Mullen@glasgowtimes.co.uk Follow @journostacey @Glasgowtimes From: LINDEN, David B Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2023 2:00 PM To: LINDEN, David B Subject: 10 March 2023 - The View from Westminster THE VIEW FROM WESTMINSTER – DAVID LINDEN MP FOR PUBLICATION ON 10th MARCH 2023 On Wednesday, social media was awash with loud messages about International Women’s Day. Many of these posts celebrated the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women - and rightly so. The day acts as a reminder of the huge progress made on the road to equality, but also of the distance still to travel.

I spent a big part of the day with women from the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign, who had descended on Parliament to continue protesting their treatment by successive UK Governments – speaking at their rally and hosting a meeting between them and Scottish MPs. These 1950s-born women have been robbed of the retirement they deserve and their fight for justice has been going on for far too long.

The WASPI campaign was formed in 2015 by a group of women affected by State Pension age changes. The Pensions Act 1995 increased the future State Pension age for women from 60 to 65, in order to equalise it with that of a man. Years later, the Pensions Act 2011 accelerated this increase so that it would happen sooner, and brought forward an additional increase to 66. Many women were not properly informed about these changes by the UK Government and therefore had insufficient time to plan for their retirement.

These legislative changes have had a significant impact on affected women, including financial hardship and health issues. Around 3.8 million women have been affected, with some losing up to £47,000 in income. Many of the women affected have faced other roadblocks which have stopped them from being able to prepare adequately for retirement, such as being excluded from company pension schemes. The lack of transitional arrangements by the British Government has made it difficult for affected women to plan for their retirement, causing stress and anxiety.

We do not need to look far for evidence of the impact on the WASPI women. New research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies just this week shows that women born in the early 1950s have an average private pension income which is around 45% lower than men their age.

To this day, women born in the 1950s are still adversely hit by the British ‘Government’s failure to address the injustice of the acceleration of the increase to the State Pension age. The Tories have repeatedly rejected calls for fairer transitional arrangements, stating that it would cost too much. As we have seen during the pandemic though, money can always be found when there is political will.

In 2016, the SNP produced an independently researched report which presented five options to the UK Government that would have allowed them to reverse their mistakes and deliver dignity in retirement for the WASPI women. Our research found that this could be done at a fraction of the cost the UK Government has been perpetuating.

The UK Government refused to ignore that research and instead continue the gross injustice served to the WASPI women, plunging many of them into poverty instead.

When it comes to ignorance of gender inequalities in our pension systems though, this is pretty much par for the course for Westminster.

There is still a significant gender pension gap which could have been greatly narrowed by now had successive UK Governments actually listened to experts and acted swiftly.

Measures such as extending the workplace pension automatic enrolment threshold for low-paid workers would have a huge impact. It’s something I’ve been calling on the Government to do, literally for years, yet it is only in the past week that we’ve seen some movement from them on this.

If the Tories were actually serious about levelling up, they’d get real about tackling the injustice of the gender pension gap, both for those already retired and for those who have just started building a pension pot.

The WASPI women have been robbed of the retirement they deserve and their fight for justice has been going on for far too long. The cruelty and negligence of the British Government has meant that women have had to keep on fighting and although their tenacity is enviable, they should not have to battle intransigent British governments to get what they are entitled to.

The Conservatives have had enough time and enough chances to put this right, yet have failed by every measure to step up and do the right thing. The current leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, signed the WASPI pledge back in 2017 yet swiftly abandoned the WASPI women once elected. None of the 1950s-born women deserve to have been treated with such utter contempt and disdain.

Although it's regrettable that many years later we're still pursuing justice, for so long as it takes, the WASPI women will have the continued support of myself and of the SNP.

Ultimately though, it wasn’t Scottish independence that put their pensions at risk. The same people who scare mongered about that are nowhere to be found now when it’s clear it is Westminster which has picked the pockets of the pensioners they told to vote No.

Remember the WASPI women. Support the WASPI women. And don’t let Westminster ever tell you that it cares about Scotland’s pensioners after the way they’ve treated the WASPI women.