MP warns next government may be ‘far right’ if Labour does not deliver change
MP warns next government may be ‘far right’ if Labour does not deliver change
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A Labour MP has warned that the next government may be a “hard-line far-right effort” if his party does not deliver “improved living standards”. Brian Leishman criticised the Government for not providing financial compensation to Waspi women, and for its approach to the Grangemouth oil refinery. The MP for Alloa and Grangemouth was one of 10 Labour MPs who supported a Bill introduced by SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn that would require ministers to publish measures to address the findings of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) report which recommended the UK Government pay compensation to women born in the 1950s whose state pension age was raised so it would be equal with men.
During Women and Equalities questions in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Leishman told MPs: “It’s fair to say that people are disillusioned with politics and politicians because they feel that things don’t change, not for the better anyway, and the Tories wouldn’t compensate Waspi women, and it looks like neither will we. “And the Tories here and the SNP Government in Holyrood have abandoned the workers of the Grangemouth refinery, and so far, I have to say, our Government hasn’t fared any better.
“So my question is a pointed one: does the Secretary of State and the wider Government not realise that, if we do not provide the positive change that we promised and we improve living standards, then the next government could be a hard-line, far-right effort that looks to impoverish society further?”. Work and Pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms said the Government was “elected on a manifesto of change”, and “change is what we will deliver”.
“We’ve been working hard on Grangemouth; on the question of Waspi we don’t think compensation is appropriate,” he said. “The evidence is that 90% of those affected did know there was a change coming out. Of course, we can’t now work out who did and who didn’t, but amongst those investigated by the Ombudsman nobody lost financially from not knowing. “So we couldn’t justify paying out up to £10 billion in compensation. Instead, we’re going to work to make sure the problem never happens again.”.
