“Stick to your word,” Liberal Democrats urge Labour MPs on pension compensation

Wandsworth Liberal Democrats have called on local Labour MPs, Marsha de Cordova MP (Battersea), Fleur Anderson MP (Putney) and Rosena Allin-Khan MP (Tooting) to follow through on their personal commitments to support justice for the WASPI women.

It follows the announcement in Parliament last month by the Labour government that it planned to deny financial compensation to women born in the 1950s who saw changes to their state pension age, going against the recommendation of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Commenting as Parliament returns from recess, chair of the local Liberal Democrats, Francis Chubb, said:

“The Conservative party left our economy in a shambles but asking let-down pensioners to pay the price for this mismanagement is simply wrong. For years, Liberal Democrats have pushed the government to fairly compensate WASPI women in line with the Ombudsman’s recommendations and we will continue to do so. Local Labour MPs who all campaigned for justice for WASPI women need to stick to their word and back a reversal.”

The announcement shocked Liberal Democrat Parliamentarians in December. As party spokesperson for Women and Equalities, Christine Jardine MP questioned on TV:

“How is any pensioner, how is anybody, going to have faith in any promise that this Labour government makes - because so far they haven't given anyone any reason to do anything but doubt them.” 

Declarations of support

All three Wandsworth MPs have pledged their support for the WASPI women’s campaign over several years. 

Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting) previously said: “The Conservatives have let WASPI women down” and promised that the Labour party would “prioritise fairness for all”. She signed and then posed with a pledge to support WASPI women. 

Fleur Anderson (Putney) went further and posed with campaigners several times, promising WASPI women that they “will be better off with a Labour Government” with the hashtag #OnYourSide. 

Marsha de Cordova (Battersea) was also photographed with WASPI campaigners to show “my continued support for the #WASPI campaign”.