A Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd has welcomed a ruling that the UK Government were too slow to inform women they would be affected by changes to a rise in the state pension age.
Peredur Owen Griffiths MS said the verdict of the Parliamentary Ombudsman was a “significant victory” for the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign. The campaign has estimated that the DWP failed to adequately inform 3.8 million 1950s-born women that their state pension age would be increasing, meaning many could not retire when they planned to.
Waspi campaigners have fought the decision for years, calling for women who were not adequately informed of the changes to have their original state pension age to be reinstated.
Peredur, whose portfolio includes older people, said the campaign has moved a step closer to delivering justice for women.
“This is a significant victory for the millions of women left out of pocket by this UK Government decision,” said Peredur. “Many women have been forced back into work at an age when they were planning to take things easy after decades of work. Some have been pushed into poverty and some will have lost their homes as a result.
“The Tory government has stubbornly refused to do the right thing on this. They made a big mistake but instead of holding their hands up and admitting they were wrong, they’ve fought the Waspi campaign throughout.
“The Plaid Cymru team in Westminster have been at the fore of exposing the UK Government on this matter and the party will be keeping the pressure on until justice is delivered.”
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