Keir Starmer makes WASPI promise as state pensioners 'set for payout'

Keir Starmer has provided a huge update over compensation payouts for WASPI women. Those who lost out through changes to the state pension age are demanding payouts worth thousands of pounds.

It's now up to the Labour Government to decide what to do. The Prime Minister has now promised an update on the situation is on the way.

Keir Starmer said the DWP Secretary, Liz Kendall, would soon be making a statement on the matter. Campaigners, who have become known as the WASPI women, say women born in the 1950s lost out after being given inadequate warning about changes to the state pension.

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A report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) concluded those affected should receive compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 - though campaigners have called for up to £10,000. A crucial update could soon be on the way, the PM hinted.

Questioned by reporters during his trip to the G20 summit in Brazil about the delay in compensation, Starmer said: "The DWP secretary will be making a statement on this in the not too distant future." He added: "Obviously, it's a very serious report, and the response will be set out by the DWP Secretary."

Earlier this month, pensions minister Emma Reynolds told the Commons that the Government hoped "to be able to update the House in the coming weeks", the Mirror reports. She told to MPs: "The ombudsman took six years to look at what are a range of complex cases, and we are looking at the complexity of those cases. I was the first minister in six years to meet with representatives of the WASPI campaign."

A report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) concluded that affected women should have received at least 28 months' more individual notice of the changes by the Department for Work and Pensions. The report also stated that for women who were unaware of the changes it meant that the opportunity for women to adjust their retirement plans were lost.