Labour leadership hopeful says he does not support payments after backlash but is open to other benefits
Andy Burnham has ruled out paying compensation to the “Waspi women” who claim they lost out owing to changes to the state pension age – but said he was open to the idea of giving them other benefits.
Burnham had previously indicated he backed compensating as many as 3.6 million women born in the 1950s, some of whom claim they lost thousands of pounds because they were ill-informed about the changes.
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Andy Burnham is facing criticism after saying that he thinks the Waspi women should be entitled to “some” compensation.
I’ll stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.
One government figure decried Burnham’s intervention as “pathetic”, adding: “He can’t say no to anyone.”
An ally of Sir Keir Starmer likened Burnham’s economic agenda to that of hard-left former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and argued that the mayor’s intervention would harm his chances of manoeuvring the prime minister out of Downing Street.
Andy Burnham’s continued support for Waspi women is both welcome and hugely refreshing. While some politicians have broken their promises, it takes real courage to speak out and say what millions of people across the country and hundreds of MPs from all parties already know - that 1950s-born women deserve justice.
Andy has always recognised the unfair way in which state pension equalisation was introduced.
As mayor of Greater Manchester, he supported Waspi women in the city-region with early access to concessionary travel, providing some recompense to them within affordability limits.
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