WASPI campaigners have expressed their anger with, ex-Tory adviser, Samuel Kasumu’s comment that “sorry should be enough” while speaking on the BBC.
Samuel Kasumu said:”I don’t think compensation is appropriate for this particular circumstance, sometimes ‘sorry’ should be enough” when discussing whether WASPI women should receive their recommended levels of compensation.
Co-Chair of the APPG, Rebecca Long-Bailey reacted negatively to the idea that WASPI women had “ample time” to find out about the State Pension changes and that the women would benefit from the triple lock.
Miss Long-Bailey referred to the Government’s failures with the WASPI women as an “injustice”
She said: “we have hear harrowing stories from huge numbers of women who have been destitue, some have lost their homes, some have faced mental health difficulties, some have been suicidal. This is a huge injustice and needs to be treated in that way.”
Miss Long-Bailey reacted to claims that there is not enough money available to compensate the WASPI women by comparing the “injustice” to the post office scandal and the blood scandal.
“Redress must be made to these women”, she said.
Mr Kasamu responded by saying “there are three million pensioners in the country , many who are probably victims of this particulr issue who are millionaires, we are in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
“We don’t just have billions to pour away every time the Government does something that they need to learn a lesson from. Sometimes sorry should be enough.”
Shaking her head Miss Long-Bailey retorted that “sorry isn’t enough i’m afraid”
Thousands of women have campaigned for compensation since the Government raised the State Pension age for women from 60 to 65 in 2018.
The issue relates to the roughly 3.8 million women born between April 6, 1950 and April 5, 1960.
Angela Madden, chair of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign, said: “More than 260,000 WASPI women have died since the campaign began and this tragic statistic reconfirms the urgent need for justice for all those affected, following the repeated failures by the DWP and successive administrations of all colours.
“The Government has shown it can act to end long-running injustices within a matter of weeks as seen with the Post Office scandal. WASPI women must finally be awarded the same dignity with swift action.”
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman received formal complaints by more than 500 women who were born in the 1950s.
A report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman previously recommended payments of between £1,000 and £2,950, in line with Level 4 of its injustice scale.
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