My aunt is a Waspi woman and is furious at Labour's refusal to pay compensation, says Cabinet minister
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A cabinet minister admitted yesterday her aunt is a Waspi woman who is angry at Labour's refusal to pay compensation. Lucy Powell, Leader of the Commons, said her relative is 'not happy at all' after the Prime Minister abandoned a vow to recompense millions of women hit by pension age changes.
![[Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners stage a protest on College Green in Westminster, London, as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers her Budget in the Houses of Parliament]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/21/93409003-14219609-image-a-17_1734902242048.jpg)
Labour has faced a backlash from campaigners and its own MPs after announcing last week that taxpayers could not afford the £10.5billion compensation package. An ombudsman had recommended the Government pay compensation to women who were told they would have to work five years longer to receive their state pension.
![[File photo dated 31/10/2024 of WASPI campaigners stage a protest outside the Houses of Parliament, London]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/22/21/93333963-14219609-File_photo_dated_31_10_2024_of_WASPI_campaigners_stage_a_protest-a-31_1734902603691.jpg)
Ms Powell, who had previously championed calls for compensation, said: 'I understand people's concern, absolutely – and my aunty is a Waspi woman; I get it very strongly. She's not happy at all, I can tell you that.'. During an interview on BBC Breakfast, she was shown a clip from 2019 where she argued that giving the Waspi women compensation would 'restore an injustice'. But now Ms Powell insisted it was not 'appropriate or proportionate' to spend billions on compensation.
In 2022 Sir Keir Starmer also signed a pledge calling for the women to receive 'fair and fast' compensation, and last year he said they had faced a 'huge injustice'. While in Opposition, other senior members of the Government, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, also backed the fight by Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners.
