WASPI Compensation

I don’t believe Reeves is a real person - she is AI!
Why do the government hate pensioners so much?
Oh silly is! It’s because there is a £22billion black hole!!!
Have you all forgotten?
I hope they all choke on their caviar and Turkey in their warm homes all paid for by us!

petal53

Casdon

See my post yesterday evening GrannyGray13. The line was drawn in May, and it never firmed part of the election campaigning started.

Was removing the WFA in the election?

We are talking about the WASPI campaign petal53. There have been numerous threads about the WFP, suggest you check them out.

The election campaign?

Casdon

See my post yesterday evening GrannyGray13. The line was drawn in May, and it never firmed part of the election campaigning started.

Was removing the WFA in the election?

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202412/medium-185286-nif-balances.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202412/medium-883244-nif-at-31-august-2024.png

Arguing that there’s no money, that paying WASPI compensation would be a burden on the taxpayer is utter nonsense (as was arguing that that Government had no option but to withdraw the universal Winter Fuel Payment).

For reasons that no MP will explain to me (I have made formal requests to Reeves, Kendall, Reynolds. shadow ministers and party spokespersons. None have responded.) there is far more money sloshing around in the National Insurance Fund than there needs. At 31 August 2024 it was 86 billion. NIF rules say that the fund needs to hold a contingency of one sixth of anticipated annual payments against unexpected expenditure.

Current practice is to aim to maintain the level of the Fund at a working balance of at least one sixth (16.7%) of projected annual benefit expenditure.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-fund-accounts/great-britain-national-insurance-fund-account-for-the-year-ended-31-march-2024

As 95% of NIF outgoings is the State Pension (the other 5% is other contributory benefits e.g. maternity and bereavement benefits), it’s easy to estimate what the outgoings will be.

For 2024/25, Government forecast that the State Pension would cost £137.5 billion. 100/95 would be 145 billion to cover all contributory benefits. One sixth of that would be 24 billion. And yet there’s 86 billion in the fund.

Paying £3000 compensation to 3.5 million women would cost 10.5 billion. Just like the estimated 1.5 billion saved by withdrawing universal WFP - the money is there.

Technically, the WFP was never paid from NIF and nor should WASPI compensation be but we know that this new Government likes to rush through secondary legislation to do what ever it likes. IMO, it could easily use some of the huge NIF excess. Once again, it has chosen to penalise the poorest pensioners - women.

Formed even..

See my post yesterday evening GrannyGray13. The line was drawn in May, and it never firmed part of the election campaigning started.

Doodledog

*GrannyGravy*, 'prior to the election' is not the same as being part of the election campaign.

As I've said before, I support things of various types, and may very well have said I would support them when I could afford to, but after 14 years of Tory government and a COL crisis, I am not able to do so. I still support them, and would love to throw money at them, but I have to prioritise other things. Does that make me a hypocrite?

Doodledog their interviews were during the election campaign

I think you are trying to make excuses for Labour.

Mollygo

^Makes you wonder how they got away with making men work 5 years longer than women for all those years.^
Something to do with men getting paid more? Or maybe to do with women who carried on working in their unpaid role even when men had retired.
Thanks for the poster Petra

If men reckon women have a cushy number then why don't THEY embrace the Dutiful Daughter role and stay at home, unpaid, on-call 24hrs to care for elderly relatives (because there's a damn big hole in the Social Care system), babysit grandchildren (because childcare costs an arm and a leg) and wallow in the glorious joy of wiping bottoms and dripping noses, mopping up vomit until you're utterly too dog-tired to even sit upright?

Come on chaps - here's your chance!

I am a Waspi women and obviously affected by the changes, however I was aware of what was happening and whilst understanding some didn’t know can’t help but wonder what those ladies would have done differently if they had known.
It’s fine to say we would have planned but how?
Also I’m aware that my pension is now far higher than my sisters who got hers at about 62ish so in the end I think as long as I live into my late 70’s I will be better off.
Personally I would prefer the money to go into building new hospitals and improving the NHS which will help all of us going forward (although realistically accept the money just isn’t there anyway).

GrannyGravy, 'prior to the election' is not the same as being part of the election campaign.

As I've said before, I support things of various types, and may very well have said I would support them when I could afford to, but after 14 years of Tory government and a COL crisis, I am not able to do so. I still support them, and would love to throw money at them, but I have to prioritise other things. Does that make me a hypocrite?

Forget the above I had put it in!!! I must stop getting ready to go out and writing at the same time! Sorry ...

I agree the triple-lock has to go

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Perhaps somewhat disingenuous PN to say the trade off would be the ending of the triple lock? Mind you I think it’ll go anyway. Governments can pull money out of thin air if they want to (just ask MiazieD) so I can only ascertain they (both Tory and Labour) just don’t want to and have been kicking this can down the road for years now.

To be honest although I didn’t expect anything I have to secretly admire Labour for putting an end to all the speculation. Time to move on.

Is that what I said? I don't think it is FriedGreenTomatoes2 Any money would have to come from somewhere; we all know there is no flexibility in the system at the moment due to the last government little wheeze of leaving unfunded promises. Where would you suggest?

I agree the triple-lock, the guarantee that the state pension increases each year by the highest of three measures: inflation, average earnings growth, or 2.5%, will have to go at some point and a move be made, probably to simply match average earnings growth.

If the government has decided to move towards future pensions being means tested they might leave Pension Credit on the triple lock until it reaches the minimum standard pension income. The Joseph Rowntree trust put this at £17,200 (2024) for a single pensioner and the government seem to go a little higher.

The underlying message was we promise to support WASPI women and will abide by the decision of the independent Ombudsman
Hoist by their own petard!

If that isn’t lying I would like to know what is?
Indeed, GG13.

The Labour Party lied by ommission.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202412/medium-101945-img-1171.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202412/medium-538102-img-1170.png

Doodledog

I agree with your post of 09:15:51 LizzieDrip.

The linking of the pension issue with other things (foreign aid, WFA etc) is a false equivalence, and being done very cynically by the media.

I think the pension issue was handled very badly in the first place, and I do support compensation, but none of it has anything to do with other issues, and the LP did not lie in its election campaign. How anyone who voted for the Tories can complain about lies is a mystery to me anyway, but that's another issue too.

I have watched and listened to interviews with Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Angela Raynor and Liz Kendall this morning, all prior to the election.

The underlying message was we promise to support WASPI women and will abide by the decision of the independent Ombudsman.

If that isn’t lying I would like to know what is?

I didn’t condone Tory lies so why should I have to condone Labour lies?

Just two examples…

I agree with your post of 09:15:51 LizzieDrip.

The linking of the pension issue with other things (foreign aid, WFA etc) is a false equivalence, and being done very cynically by the media.

I think the pension issue was handled very badly in the first place, and I do support compensation, but none of it has anything to do with other issues, and the LP did not lie in its election campaign. How anyone who voted for the Tories can complain about lies is a mystery to me anyway, but that's another issue too.

Do people seriously think the then govt decided on the women's pension age based on what they got paid? Many of those jobs being in the private sector.

I'm now trying to remember just how long it is that the government (this one and the last one certainly at least) have been trying to call our State Pension a "benefit". Quite rightly a lot of us are upset about that change of name for it - as it's most certainly NOT a "benefit" - it's our just dues that we've paid our NI stamp in for (or, in some womens cases, been credited for during bringing up their children).

I'm someone that paid in/worked for every single one of those "years" I needed in order to qualify for full State Pension. I can see clearly that, if I'd not got enough "years" in then I would receive lower pension accordingly. So - if we've had to work (or maybe get "credited") for our years and what we receive is based on the number of years we personally have got in = how come it's being called a "benefit" these days? When we all know that those conditions don't apply to genuine" benefit" income.

I can never recall the form of words or who said those words that tries to rename our "pension" income as "benefit" income or exactly when they started trying to pull that stunt as a way of making out it's not our "worked for or credited for due income". But I suppose the "writing was on the wall" at that point and it was as well to think "Aye aye - what are they planning to get up to?". I'd say the current government knew well before they came to power that they'd "have a go" and been telling themselves in their little minds that it's a "benefit", rather than "pension" to justify their secret little plan to not hand it over..

Personally Primrose I don’t put myself, as a WASPI woman, in the same category of need as people in Syria and Ukraine or those fleeing war and persecution.

LizzieDrip

^To be fair I don’t think any government actions would have been/will be different about this, not even the LibDems who were involved in the original decision and who are now crying “shame”^

Agreed Mollygo.

Labour are getting it in the neck for this, even though they did NOT promise WASPI compensation in their 2024 election manifesto.

So, those of us who voted for them knew it was not on the agenda.

14 years of Tory government has left the economy on its knees and there simply isn’t the money to pay this compensation. I am a WASPI woman but didn’t expect anything.

What we should remind ourselves is that it was the Coalition government that implemented the pension ‘theft’. Any anger should be directed at them!

Lib Dem MPs now crying ‘shame’ demonstrates their hypocrisy!

“There simply isn’t the money to pay this compensation”.

But there is money for foreign climate change, Ukraine, Syria, illegal immigrants ……. Everybody except us it seems!

To be fair I don’t think any government actions would have been/will be different about this, not even the LibDems who were involved in the original decision and who are now crying “shame”

Agreed Mollygo.

Labour are getting it in the neck for this, even though they did NOT promise WASPI compensation in their 2024 election manifesto.

So, those of us who voted for them knew it was not on the agenda.

14 years of Tory government has left the economy on its knees and there simply isn’t the money to pay this compensation. I am a WASPI woman but didn’t expect anything.

What we should remind ourselves is that it was the Coalition government that implemented the pension ‘theft’. Any anger should be directed at them!

Lib Dem MPs now crying ‘shame’ demonstrates their hypocrisy!

Makes you wonder how they got away with making men work 5 years longer than women for all those years.
Something to do with men getting paid more? Or maybe to do with women who carried on working in their unpaid role even when men had retired.
Thanks for the poster Petra

Aveline

Pensioners shafted again. When's the next election?

It seems a very, very long way away.