Leadbitter takes up cudgels as ‘nearly 300,000 die in seven years’
New Local MP Graham Leadbitter is urging the UK government to “pay up” to WASPI women before more women die without ever receiving the compensation they’re due.
According to WASPI - Women Against State Pension Inequality - campaigners, nearly 300,000 women have died in the seven years since the campaign was launched, with an estimated 111 deaths per day.
In a letter to pensions minister Emma Reynolds, the member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey pressed Westminster to take a different approach to the Tories, whose ignorance of the WASPI campaign has left women in the dark over their pensions.
Mr Leadbitter also warned that a failure to deliver would be an “unforgivable betrayal” and show there is little to separate Chancellor Rachel Reeves from her Tory predecessors.
Mr Leadbitter MP said: “WASPI women are only asking for what they’re rightfully owed, but have been left in the dark by successive UK governments who’ve paid them no mind.
“That can’t be allowed to continue under the Labour party who must take a different approach and pay up.
“Already, nearly 300,000 women have died since the campaign for justice was launched in 2015. To allow any more women to go without receiving the compensation they’re due would be an unforgivable betrayal from this Labour government.”
The Chancellor had an opportunity to separate herself and the government from the Tories’ abysmal record, said the Highland MP.
“But she’ll show just how similar they are if they choose to continue to ignore these calls.
“The SNP has stood firm with the WASPI campaigners, and my SNP MP colleagues and I will always stand up for swift justice and compensation.”
