Newcastle North MP, Catherine McKinnell, has hit out at the Government’s response to a debate in Parliament yesterday (1st February) on increases to women’s State Pension age, describing it as ‘insulting and wholly inadequate’.

Changes introduced by legislation in 1995, and then in 2011, mean that millions of women born after 6th April 1950 – who had previously expected to retire at age 60 – will not be entitled to receive the State Pension until between the ages of 63 and 66. Some women have been affected by both changes, seeing their State Pension age increased twice in this period – with many women having received little, or even no, notification of either increase from the Government, and having therefore had insufficient time to put alternative plans in place.

Catherine voted against the 2011 Pensions Act because of the disproportionate impact of the changes on this group of women, and has repeatedly lobbied Ministers on the issue since.

The 3-hour Backbench Business debate held yesterday was secured following an e-petition launched by the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign (WASPI), which has so far achieved over 140,000 signatures.

Speaking during this debate, Catherine said:

‘I agree that it is right to equalise the state pension age for women and men, but I thoroughly object to the Government’s implication that the women, and indeed men, who are campaigning on this issue are standing in the way of progress, or acting as a barrier to the achievement of gender equality and fairness.  That is deeply insulting, patronising and wrong…

‘…The crux of the matter is that these pension changes have not been properly communicated to those affected, and women born in the 1950s have been disproportionately hit because their pension age has been increased not once but twice, with very little time for them to do anything about it.  That relatively small group of women is being asked to bear the cost of making our pension system fair, sustainable and affordable for everyone else. That is patently unfair and blatantly discriminatory. Women across the country have been left in real fear, simply because they did not have the foresight to be born a few years – in some cases, a few months – earlier.’

‘How dare the Government lecture those women about the importance of gender equality? They have worked hard, done the right thing and paid into the system. They have faced discrimination, unfairness and inequality throughout their working and often their family lives. They thought they had entered into a pensions contract with the Government, only to discover as they neared retirement that the Government were not going to keep their side of the bargain. That is the very definition of unfairness, and the notion that inequality can be fought by imposing more of it is absurd.’

Catherine went on to highlight the impact of the changes on individual women across her constituency, and her frustration that the current Pensions Minister – Baroness Altmann – is refusing to act on this issue, despite having campaigned against the changes at the time they were being made:

I gently ask the Minister, who campaigned vociferously on this issue, what is the point of becoming a Minister if you are unprepared to use the levers of power when you have the opportunity to do so?’

Following yesterday’s debate, Catherine commented:

‘We saw unprecedented scenes in Westminster Hall yesterday, with a huge number of MPs wanting to take part in this debate and many unable to speak in the time available.

‘I’m pleased I had the opportunity to voice my constituents’ concerns – but the Minister’s reply was frankly insulting and wholly inadequate.

‘It failed to address any of the issues raised, and I think the Government are hoping that this issue will just go away if they ignore it for long enough. They couldn’t be more wrong, and I will not rest until they act to remedy this injustice.’

A full transcript of Catherine’s speech yesterday is available here.

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