A protest staged by the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) group in the public gallery of the House of Commons after today’s Budget speech received a standing ovation from Labour and SNP MPs.
The protest took place shortly after chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond had finished his 65-minute-long speech. The speech made no mention of pensions, nor the plight of the WASPI women.
MPs from both the Labour party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) tweeted out support for the women.
SNP and youngest-ever MP Mhaira Black said the chancellor had “failed” the women.
Palpable anger in the public gallery by #WASPI women and supporters as the Chancellor fails them once again. They certainly made it a lot harder for him to ignore them this year!
When will he learn that #WASPI women will not give up. pic.twitter.com/iJni1OzGux
— Mhairi Black MP (@MhairiBlack) October 29, 2018
Meanwhile Labour MP Dawn Butler suggested it was a shame the women had been “thrown out” so soon.
The 1950’s women were waiting patiently for a mention in #Budget2018 but there was nothing, until @jeremycorbyn stood to his feet and spoke.
It is a shame @WASPI_Campaign were thrown out before they got to hear @UKLabour response.
We gave you a standing ovation. pic.twitter.com/UYiqrmRmAN
— (((Dawn Butler MP))) (@DawnButlerBrent) October 29, 2018
The WASPI campaign began in 2015 and challenges changes to the state pension age for women, first made in the 1995 Pensions Act and later accelerated in 2011. It argues the reforms have placed an unfair burden on hundreds of thousands of women born in the 1950s.
The government has persistently pushed back against the campaign, with pensions minister Guy Opperman describing calls to compensate the women “unaffordable“, while Tory MP Rachel McClean argued the government has already allocated £1bn to help the affected women, and proposed apprenticeships to encourage working in later life.