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National
Jonathan Walker

MPs step up campaign to support 'WASPI' women hit by state pension age changes

More than one in four MPs have now backed a Commons motion demanding interim measures to support women who say they have been unfairly affected by increases to the state pension age.

They include Jarrow MP Stephen Hepburn, who said: "I will be doing all I can to make sure these women aren’t forgotten."

The motion, signed by 177 of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons, highlights the plight of women born in the 1950s who have been affected by laws passed in 1995 and 2011 which equalised the pension age for men and women.

It ended the old system in which women returned at 60 and men at 65 and meant everyone now receives their pension at the age of 65, rising to 66 by 2020.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) says many were not made aware of the changes in time to plan ahead, and now face years of retirement without their pension.

The Commons motion calls on the Government to enact a temporary special measures to provide restitution to women born in the 1950s who have lost their pensions from the age of 60 because of the impact of the rise in retirement age.

And it says women hit by the changes have suffered "increased poverty, deteriorating health and homelessness".

According to estimates from the House of Commons Library, over 4,000 women in the Jarrow constituency are affected by the changes.

Mr Hepburn said: "They have been robbed of their retirement and they are right to feel victimised."

Other MPs who signed the motion include North Tyneside MP Mary Glindon; Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell; Blyth Valey MP Ronnie Campbell; Easington MP Grahame Morris; South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck; Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott, and Durham North MP Kevan Jones.

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