After much dither, delay and further delays the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions gave a statement on 29th January 2026 reaffirming their decision to not compensate those impacted.
This follows a Government announcement in November 2025, that the Government would be reconsidering their decision on compensation for the WASPI women in light of evidence cited by the WASPI campaign during legal proceedings that a report produced in 2007 had not been considered by the Secretary for State at the time. The current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, had reopened the decision in order to consider all the evidence including the 2007 report.
I know many campaigners were hoping for a different outcome and the Government has taken far too long to come to a settled resolution, leaving many of the women affected by this decision, not knowing where they stand.
Many Labour MPs and current Ministers campaigned alongside WASPI women while in opposition, calling for compensation. No wonder they are accused of hypocrisy when the Labour Government decided against compensation.
Given their failure to control the benefits bill and their decision to lift the two-child benefit cap, the Government would struggle to afford to compensate WASPI women. However, they should have followed the proper process in making their decision. Dragging it out into another year was incredibly incompetent and unkind.
We have already seen this Government hit pensioners’ pockets with their winter fuel payment cuts, and then U-turn in shame afterwards. It was understandable that many WASPI campaigners were hoping for another U-turn but the many more months of uncertainty and anxiety were not fair to impose on those affected women.
It’s time the Government stopped letting pensioners down and started treating them with the respect they deserve.