Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the Labour leader of repeatedly breaking promises following the decision not to compensate Waspi women.
Speaking on GB News, Jenrick said: “It’s a pattern with Keir Starmer. You know, this is a man who got elected as Labour leader on a set of promises, reneged on almost all of them when he’s in office.”
He added: “At every turn they are telling lies. And I have not known a government that has lied and lied and lied in the way that this one has done in such a short period of time.”
Starmer had previously expressed strong support for the Waspi campaign, stating in a July 2022 radio interview that there was a “real injustice” in how the women had been treated.
Robert Jenrick blasted Labour
GB NEWS
“All your working life you’ve got in mind the date on which you can retire and get your pension, and just as you get towards it, the goalposts are moved and you don’t get it, and it’s a real injustice,” he said at the time.
He had accused the then-Conservative Government of putting “its fingers in its ears”.
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Jenrick said Labour has reneged on its promises
GB NEWS
Labour’s work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, announced on Sunday that there would be “no scheme” for compensation, despite a Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report recommending payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950.
Kendall said the Government would not grant compensation as it “isn’t fair or value for taxpayers’ money”.
After her announcement, Waspi campaigners shared a picture of Kendall holding a sign stating: “I will work with Waspi to identify a fair solution for all women affected.”
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Labour MP Diane Abbott challenged Sir Keir Starmer over the decision, asking if he understood how “let down” Waspi women feel.
Starmer responded: “I do understand the concern, of course I do.”
He added: “The research is clear that 90 per cent of those impacted did know about the change and in those circumstances the taxpayer simply can’t afford the burden of tens of billions of pounds of compensation.”
Angela Madden, chair of the Waspi campaign, called the decision “bizarre and totally unjustified” and challenged Sir Keir’s statistics.
“This isn’t just misleading; it’s an insult to millions of 1950s-born women who were blindsided by these changes,” she said.
Madden added that the ombudsman’s findings showed 60 per cent of women had no idea their State Pension age was rising.
She accused the Government of “cherry-picking data” and “spreading dangerous misinformation.”
