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Waspi women

(304 Posts)
mcem Sun 24-Nov-19 08:43:12

Any thoughts on John McDonnell 's proposal to to compensate waspi women to the tune of £58 bn?

lemongrove Sun 24-Nov-19 19:09:42

growstuff if you look at the overall figures you can see that Labour would be spending unbelievable billions more than the Conservatives.
Am sure it does work out at £28 for every £1 as stated.
Check another source if you like, there must be more than that Guardian article about it.

trisher Sun 24-Nov-19 19:49:22

I hope all those posting about how they don't want the money and don't believe Labour, will refuse to accept it when there is a Labour government.

mcem Sun 24-Nov-19 19:57:53

I asked the same question upthread trisher but am unaware of a chorus of highly-principled posters declaring that they'll refuse the payments if they come via JC and co. Have you noticed any ?
Also, if the ombudsman/courts uphold the claims, will those same posters see it differently if the cash comes via Bojo.
Pleased that Mhairi Black and so many others have stuck with the campaign!

ayse Sun 24-Nov-19 20:18:45

I’m a WASPI. I remember years ago when we were first told and I checked how long I would have to work. It turned out to be 2.25 years. I was fortunate in that I was born in the early 1950s and tbh I was not unduly concerned. However, I think the goal posts were moved again by the Tories, resulting in many having to wait even longer for their pensions.

I wouldn’t say no to some compensation and I feel that in general we have been shabbily treated. Of course, the pension age could have been rounded down so that men would have been able to retire earlier. I’d lay a bet that most ordinary people will not be able to retire at all, leaving only those who have adequate funds (the wealthy). All those on zero hours contracts, low wages may never be in that position.

As I said to dh earlier this evening, giving compensation would not have any affect on my vote. A far longer roll out would have been more acceptable. IMO it was done to save money and NOT for reasons of equality.

At least Labour seems to have conceded that there is some justification in the very real anger of women in our age group, who have been treated appallingly by Tori’s and New Labour alike.

As always in this society it is those with the least economic clout who pay the penalty for government mismanagement and the ‘take’ society.

ayse Sun 24-Nov-19 20:20:17

Hate spell checker - not Tori’s but Conservatives

ayse Sun 24-Nov-19 20:22:41

If I did have a small windfall, I’d like to donate it to a homeless charity, my local hospice, the RNLI and a climate change organisation. Hopefully it would be put to good use.

lemongrove Sun 24-Nov-19 20:25:39

When there is a Labour government trisher...?
When will that be, 2024, 2028?

Jane10 Sun 24-Nov-19 20:36:03

Och this is all pie in the sky. It'll not happen and all us WASPIS will get our pensions eventually as we hit the relevant age. Then it will just be a 'might have been'.

Oopsminty Sun 24-Nov-19 20:38:15

It's not actually in the manifesto is it?

ayse Sun 24-Nov-19 20:42:12

Wouldn’t surprise me if the goal posts were changed again!

Chewbacca Sun 24-Nov-19 21:06:13

Wouldn’t surprise me if the goal posts were changed again!

I'd say that you could depend on that with more confidence than in expecting any political party to rectify what has been done to WASPI women ayse.

Granless Sun 24-Nov-19 21:11:18

What’s a WASPI? confused

crystaltipps Sun 24-Nov-19 21:25:01

Boris is promising nothing he won’t break after the election. 2bn for potholes, 1 bn for childcare- potholes are work twice as much as a child then.

absthame Sun 24-Nov-19 22:31:49

His "kids" are far too old to qualify for childcare, unless there are even more recent additions to his genetic line than I'm aware of. Based upon passed performances and behaviour that possibility should not be dismissed entirely grin

Pixxie7 Sun 24-Nov-19 23:01:37

As a waspi woman I welcome the news to an extent but feel it raises to many questions.
By the way they propose to do it little will be gained. Their tax will be higher and any benefits will be reduced. Additionally woman born 1955 onwards won’t be included. They should consider paying a lump sum in the first instance nd go from there.

MaizieD Sun 24-Nov-19 23:11:20

Unfortunately I remember the 70's with power strikes at 4pm, going home from school in the dark. No electric to cook dinner etc. This is what they are promising, all rumours to get your vote

Just seen this! What on earth are you on about, *Jani318? Who is promising power cuts?

(It was a tory government, BTW)

Yehbutnobut Sun 24-Nov-19 23:12:12

So Waspis vote for Boris then and stop whinging. It’s your call.

Yehbutnobut Sun 24-Nov-19 23:14:45

Ha! Ha! Yes that’s absolutely correct MaizieD it was thr Tories ???

I think there should be some sort of test, like the Citizenship Test before people are given voting rights. Universal franchise for the few not the many!

MaizieD Sun 24-Nov-19 23:20:02

It's not actually in the manifesto is it?

What's this, Oops?

P75

Under the Tories, 400,000 pensioners have been pushed into poverty and a generation of women born in the 1950s have had their pension age changed without fair notification.

This betrayal left millions of women with no time to make alternative plans– with sometimes devastating personal consequences.

Labour recognises this injustice, and will work with these women to design a system of recompense for the losses and insecurity they have suffered.

lemongrove Sun 24-Nov-19 23:27:12

..... but it hasn’t worked with the women has it?
What it has done, is to see a woman on QT ask Johnson about it, not be happy with the reply, and said let’s announce a £58b
Compensation package right now to maximise votes! Haha that’ll be one in the eye for Boris.
You know this, I know this, the whole country knows this.

growstuff Sun 24-Nov-19 23:32:38

The real problem is working age benefits. Women over 60 are now of working age and discovering that if they can't work that the support available is pathetic. Both men and women over 60 are being treated considerably worse with Universal Credit than they would have been with the old system.

In the long term, the poverty some women experience as pensioners is caused years before, when they suffered discrimination in the workplace and career breaks etc. That's why I support childcare initiatives. I also think that younger women are more aware of the need to be responsible for their own future.

growstuff Sun 24-Nov-19 23:34:13

Yeah yeah! The whole country minus the ones who understand economics. Unfortunately, that leaves quite a few blinkered ones.

MaizieD Sun 24-Nov-19 23:40:34

It may surprise you to know this, lemon, but you don't actually represent the majority views of all women.. let alone the whole country.

Pixxie7 Mon 25-Nov-19 02:48:47

gtowstuff I was born nov 1953 and got my pension 19 days before 65th birthday. Never received any communication.

growstuff Mon 25-Nov-19 07:27:34

Why did you think you were going to get your pension when you were 60? I assume you realised when money didn't magically arrive in your bank account on your sixtieth birthday. It's never been difficult to read the press, follow budget changes, contact the Department for Work and Pensions or (in recent years) to type "Check your state pension age" into Google and be directed to the Department of Work and Pensions. I really don't understand how women can have gone over 20 years and have been unaware of something which is so important to them. If people don't know of issues which affect them personally, I wonder how many other changes to the law have just gone over their head. I hope you're all telling your children and grandchildren to check now and do what they can to make provision.