Mansfield MP vows to raise WASPI cause as campaigners hope for compensation

Angela Madden, chairwoman of Women Against State Pension Inequality or WASPI, a campaign group which is calling on the Government to compensate millions of women born in the 1950's after changes were made to the pension age, said the group is still hopeful that it will get action.

She said that the group have a lot of support from MP's across parties, which she hopes will soon help to get an amendment to a bill which saw 6,700 women in the Mansfield area lose hundreds of thousands of pounds supporting themselves without state pension.

The group claims that women born in the 1950s were not given sufficient notice of Government plans to equalise the state pension age between women and men.

As a result, around 3.8m women around the UK did not have enough time to change their pension plans, WASPI argues.

WASPI, has complained to the Department of Work and Pensions, claiming the department mishandled the implementation of changes to the State Pension Age.

Ms Madden said: "We have still not managed to broker a meeting with anyone from the Government.

"And, there was nothing in Queen's speech about WASPI - we need to get MP's to push the Government on our behalf.

"Ultimately, an amendment will go through Parliament - we need to have all of Parliament to agree.

"The courts have said it is not for them to decide.

"We feel like we do have majority support in Parliament - but we want to turn that into votes.

"We are living longer, it is fair that state pension age go up.

"But, the changes hit women who had a big increase to their pension age.

"I got a two-year notice but, some got none."

Mansfield MP Ben Bradley met Ms Madden and other WASPI campaigners at a drop-in session in Westminster.

Ms Madden said that while Mr Bradley did not "pledge" to the group on the day, she is happy with his support.

Ms Madden said: "It does seams he is taking action, even though he didn't sign up on the day."

She added that 116 MP's went to offer support to the group at the two-hour drop in session.

Mr Bradley said: “I’m grateful to WASPI representatives for coming all the way to Westminster to discuss the campaign with MPs.

"I’ve always been sympathetic to the campaign and I admire the hard work that WASPI representatives have done to raise this issue in Parliament.

"I have supported a number of women locally with their individual cases, which have been submitted to the Parliamentary ombudsman, and I have met with WASPI campaigners, both in Westminster and on the doorstep.

"I’ll continue to raise this issue with ministers and I look forward to standing up for local WASPI women in Mansfield and Warsop.”