MPs respond to the Ministers Announcement on Social Media
1st February 2026
Many MPs have spoken out against the decision not to compensate WASPI women. This is a selection of the ones we’ve seen, is your MP here?
Lauren Edwards MP
I am disappointed that the Government has recently re‑confirmed it will not follow the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO) recommendation to compensate WASPI women. Together with other MPs, I have written to Pensions Ministers urging them to reconsider. Poor communication around changes to the state pension age left millions of women – including thousands here in Rochester and Strood – unfairly impacted, and they deserve compensation.
Pete Wishart MP
Pete Wishart for Perth and Kinross-shire
I have been contacted by numerous WASPI women who were rightly outraged by the Pensions Secretary’s remarks last week. I have now written to him to express my serious concern about the tone and implications of these comments.
WASPI women have consistently shown themselves to be diligent, engaged, and articulate throughout their tireless campaigning. To suggest otherwise is deeply troubling and risks reinforcing harmful stereotypes.
Claire Hanna MP
Share the disappointment of many constituents about the UK Government’s decision not to implement the recommendations of the Parliamentary Ombudsman on compensation for the WASPI women.
The SDLP have campaigned for many years alongside women who experienced hardship as a result of unnoticed changes and a blanket refusal to address is not the right course.
How this has been handled by successive UK governments will leave a bad taste in the mouths of many women of a generation who always carried disproportionate burdens, enduring societal challenges like the gender pay gap, fulfilling caring responsibilities in the home and against the context of austerity from consecutive Tory governments.
I know others will share my admiration for the unrelenting resilience, integrity and conviction they have shown throughout the WASPI campaign.
Michelle Welsh MP
I’ll continue fighting for WASPI women in Sherwood Forest and beyond
Kate Osborne MP
Rachel Gilmore MP
GOVERNMENT REJECTS WASPI WOMEN COMPENSATION CLAIM
Earlier today, the Government rejected calls from the WASPI – Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign for compensation following another review of related documents.
This devastating decision means that 3.6 million women born in the 1950s, including more than 7,000 in our constituency, are still not entitled to the compensation they deserve for the poor communication surrounding the decision to accelerate changes to the State Pension age.
While this is another blow, the fight is far from over. I will continue to support the WASPI campaign until women get the justice they deserve.
Brian Leishman MP
The fight for the justice WASPI women deserve will not go away.
WASPI women have always had my full support and they always will.
I will continue to fight their corner in and outside Parliament.
Chris Law MP
Yet another disappointing update from the UK Government for WASPI women this morning.
Despite accepting that WASPI women were impacted by maladministration and spending years in opposition demanding this injustice be righted, Labour have once again refused to follow the Ombudsman’s recommendations and compensate those affected.
WASPI women in Dundee can be assured that I will continue to stand up for them in Parliament.
Martin Wrigley MP
Paul Maskey MP
Sinn Féin has long supported the women affected by the British government’s changes to the pension age, which have adversely impacted women born in the 1950s.
Despite recommendations to award compensation to those impacted, the British government has again chosen to deny these women what they are entitled to and, at the very least, deserve.
These changes ruined many women’s retirement plans and left them financially damaged.
I want to express my solidarity with the women on another frustrating day for them.
Clive Lewis MP
I’m deeply disappointed by today’s decision not to compensate WASPI women. For years, I and many of the ministers now in government stood on platforms with these women and campaigned alongside them for justice. To walk away now is a serious betrayal. It affects thousands of my own constituents, many of whom planned their lives around rules that were changed without proper notice.
This is not an isolated failure. The treatment of WASPI women fits a wider and deeply troubling pattern in the way the British state and political class deal with ordinary people. From the Horizon scandal, to infected blood, to Windrush, we see the same story repeated: delay, denial, and a lack of urgency when working people are wronged.
That pattern points to a deeper disconnect at the heart of our politics. Whether it’s housing, student debt, the cost of living, or water companies being allowed to pollute rivers while charging us more, too often the system seems to work for vested interests first, and everyone else last.
Justice for WASPI women will not come from warm words alone. It will only come when a Labour government is willing to properly re-examine who it governs for, and whose interests it is prepared to challenge. Getting this right must be part of a wider reset of our political economy, so that fairness, accountability and basic respect are no longer the exception, but the rule. To that end I will continue to work with WASPI women for justice and compensation as well as the broader set of issues raised above.
Wendy Chamberlain MP
This decision is frankly a disgrace. Millions of WASPI women will feel utterly betrayed today. The Government has turned its back on millions of pension-age women who were wronged through no fault of their own, ignoring the independent Ombudsman’s findings.
Richard Burgon MP
For years I’ve been proud to back the WASPI – Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign. Thousands of women in East Leeds have faced pension injustice through no fault of their own.
Today’s decision to deny them fair compensation is totally wrong. I’ll keep fighting until justice is done. We will not give up.
Lee Pitcher MP
My statement on today’s WASPI announcement
Today, the Government made a statement in Parliament confirming that it will not be paying compensation to 1950s-born women affected by changes to the State Pension age and how those changes were communicated.
I am deeply disappointed for the 6,000 WASPI women in Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme, and for those across the country. I have campaigned for justice on this issue since I was elected, and I was hoping this revisit would result in a different outcome for my WASPI constituents.
MPs were not made aware in advance that this statement was going to be made today, and as a result I and many other MPs were not able to be in the Chamber for the announcement, or to put the questions and concerns I know many of you would have wanted me to express to the Minister.
I know how strongly many of you feel about this, and I know the real impact it has had on your lives, your plans, and your sense of fairness.
I will continue to listen to you and be your voice, in my capacity as your local representative.
Kirsteen Sullivan MP
Yesterday, the Secretary of State for Work & Pensions told the House that the Government have decided not to award compensation to WASPI women.
I expressed my deep disappointment at this decision and the profound sense of frustration and injustice felt by those who have campaigned tirelessly. I also paid tribute to the WASPI women for their perseverance, dignity and determination over many years – you can read more about my comments in the article attached 
I am deeply disappointed by this outcome and will continue working with colleagues in the All-Party Parliamentary Group for State Pension Inequality for Women to explore what steps can be taken next.
Rebecca Long Bailey
My statement on the Government’s decision to once again rule out compensation for women born in the 1950s affected by changes to the State Pension age.