Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie has delivered a blunt verdict to Waspi women, declaring they should “suck it up” following Labour’s decision to reject their compensation claims.
The Labour Government once again turned down the Waspi campaign’s bid for compensation today, reaffirming its position after conducting a review of fresh evidence.
The Government initially dismissed the claim in December 2024, before announcing it would examine additional submissions in November of last year.
Speaking on GB News, Mr Mackenzie said: “Honestly, the way Labour works is they start off with a U-turn and then work backwards, only to decide that the U-turn was the right idea in the first place.
“So when they do a U-turn, it’s almost not even a story anymore. I mean, it’s an astonishing moment, but the truth is, we don’t have £10 billion. We don’t even have £10.
“Not even ten pence. We’re skint. We’re so skint that Starmer is more worried about whether he’s going to survive politically than about cutting welfare. Labour MPs would rather keep Starmer than make any tough welfare cuts.
Economically, our country is in a dire state at the moment, and it’s likely to stay that way for the duration of this Parliament.
“It’s a very sad moment. Look at the Waspi women, they’re going to have to suck it up.
Kelvin Mackenzie told Waspi women they need to ‘suck it up’m
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GB NEWS
“We only have a penny, and that penny seems to have gone to the family connected with the blood scandal. Unfortunately, the Waspi women are not going to benefit, and many of them aren’t going to be around for much longer either.”
Ministers concluded that the majority of affected women were aware that the changes were approaching, and therefore no payments would be made.
Approximately 3.6 million women stand to lose out from the decision, with those born between April 1951 and 1960 caught up in the pension age alterations.
Treasury estimates have previously put the potential bill for compensating these women at around £10.5billion, a sum the Government has deemed unaffordable given current fiscal constraints.
The Women Against State Pensions Inequality campaign has fought for years on behalf of those who argue they received inadequate notice about changes to their retirement age.
The dispute centres on the decision to raise the female state pension age from 60 to 65, bringing it in line with men.
Campaigners stress that this transition happened too rapidly, leaving many women without sufficient time to prepare financially for the extended period before they could access their pension.
The original legislation dates back to the 1995 Pensions Act, which sets out plans to equalise pension ages by 2020.
However, the coalition Government accelerated this timetable in 2011, bringing the deadline forward to 2018 and catching many women off guard.
Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden provided an update to MPs over the payout package, confirming “the Government has came to the same conclusion” in rejecting compensation.
Mr McFadden apologised that women born in the 1950s were not sent individual letters about their state pension changes earlier, but revealed will not receive compensation as a result of communications problems.
He told MPs: “There are legitimate and sincerely held views about whether it was wise to increase the state pension age, in particular, whether the decision taken in 2011 by the coalition government to accelerate equalisation and the rise to the age of 66 was the right thing to do or not.”