Badenoch and Strathspey MP calls for justice for WASPI woman before it is too late
Badenoch and Strathspey MP Graham Leadbitter has renewed his calls for the UK government to ‘pay up and deliver justice’ for WASPI women ‘before it’s too late’.
The SNP politician spoke up for WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) compensation in a Westminster parliamentary debate earlier this week.
The Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey MP raised figures from the campaign that revealed over 100 1950s born-women die everyday in the UK without having received the compensation Labour previously campaigned for, and the Parliamentary Ombudsman has recommended paying out.
Mr Leadbitter also used the debate to highlight the decades of discrimination the WASPI generation were forced to endure.
He said: "The millions of women affected are of a generation of women who have been discriminated against throughout their working lives.
“They have been victims of getting lower pay than their male counterparts doing the same job, as has been well evidenced by equal pay settlements with numerous bodies.
“They have been victims of the glass ceiling, victims of both casual and overt sexism in the workplace, and victims of a patriarchal society that, although much diminished, still creates a major imbalance today.
“Women are far more likely to be worse off as pensioners than men and have, on average, much smaller pension pots when they come to retirement age."
Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey was in the top 25 constituencies by number of signatories on the UK Parliament petition calling on the government to deliver compensation.
Mr Leadbitter said: “The Labour party spent their years in opposition, and the 2024 election campaign, using the WASPI women as props in photo opportunities but now they’re in government they are shamefully casting them aside.
“These are women who, through no fault of their own, faced decades of discrimination in the workplace only to be made victims again in retirement because of the UK government.
“That’s a disgrace that needs rectified; Labour must pay up and deliver justice to the WASPI women before it’s too late.
“I will always stand with the WASPI women and for the justice and compensation they are owed.”
Highlands regional MSP Rhoda Grant (Scottish Labour) said: “The mess we inherited has meant really tough decisions.
“I too would want to see the WASPI women compensated for the last government's mistakes.
“That said I know that the public finances are also in a bad way and I would be interested to know what part of the Scottish Budget Graham Leadbitter would want to see cut to make this possible.
“Perhaps if we had a fraction of the Scottish Government's mismanaged billions we would have been able to do that.”
Find out more about the WASPI campaign by clicking here.
