The WASPI Campaign has seen more than its fair share of events with enough force to push us off course. We’ve seen two elections, Brexit and now COVID19. Throughout it all as a Campaign we have endeavoured to stay relevant and to consider how these major events will affect WASPI women.
We tackled the coronavirus by considering how a short-term measure could help some women, while at the same time retaining our original ask of fair transitional arrangements for all. The lack of response from the Government and the opposition has been, to put it bluntly, deafening.
We’ve watched as WASPI women have fallen through the cracks of special provisions made and how they have failed to apply to them. We’ve heard from women who have simply not been able to work for a multitude of reasons. We’ve heard from women who fear they will never find work again. Many more women have asked why the Government doesn’t just give them their pensions and free up jobs for younger people.
As the pandemic situation improves the Government will be considering the way out of recession and how to rebuild the economy. Already several select committees are asking questions on the effects which will be felt by all sectors of society. It is up to us, all of us, to make sure that our MPs don’t forget us, and that the needs and rights of women on the brink of retirement, already disadvantaged in the pension stakes are taken into consideration. To that end the WASPI Campaign have made submissions to three of the committees, two submissions have already been accepted as evidence and we wait to hear from the third.
In our dealings with MPs we will stress the needs of WASPI women and will provide them with examples of women’s experiences. You can do this too. You can write to your own MP and make sure he or she is aware of your story. There’s an MPs Factsheet which you can e mail or send to your MP. You can find the contact details of your MP here.
Please don’t leave it up to others. We must all play our part.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has confirmed that during lockdown the investigation into six sample cases of maladministration are proceeding. We await the outcome of those investigations.
We have also been informed by the PHSO that they have experienced a Breach of Data Protection. We understand this is not serious but for further information please visit PSO Data Breach. WASPI have asked certain questions regarding this and will update on this when we have a response.
Meanwhile we have been contacted recently by many women confused by an out of date post on Social Media about a Judicial Review being “held in June”. This was in fact held in June 2019 on behalf of another campaign group. It was unsuccessful, and they have called for an Appeal which will be heard on 21/22nd July 2020. We will publish the result of that Appeal when we hear it.
