THE Pembrokeshire branch of Women Against State Pension Injustice (WASPI) has backed the first step to help challenge a recent high court decision by the Backto60 campaign.
7,000 women in Pembrokeshire born in the 1950s, had little or no notice of the loss of up to six years state pension due to the Pension Acts of 1995 and 2011. All are struggling on much less money than they had planned for in retirement. Many face severe hardship.
The Backto60 campaign has sought to urge the Government to rethink the changes and took their case to the courts earlier this year, but without success.
On October 3, the Royal Courts of Justice announced that the two justices who heard the case in June had found that the 3.8m women in the UK had not been discriminated against when their state pension age was put back by several years with little or no notice.
Following that decision, the Backto60 launched a legal challenge to the court ruling.
“This is a crucial time for the Backto60 campaign,” said a spokeswoman for the campaign, who urged women affected to contact their MPs in order to push through a Temporary Special Measure early the next parliament to halt the changes.
WASPI, although playing no part in the legal action, is supporting the Backto60s campaign, while maintaining their own ask for transitional payments and compensation for all 1950s women.
“We were rather shell-shocked when we heard the decision to dismiss it and put it back in the hands of the Government to resolve," said Pembrokeshire WASPI Organiser, Jackie Gilderdale.
“We are convinced that the 7,000 women in Pembrokeshire, born in the 1950s who have been cheated out of several years of the pensions they paid into, have been treated unfairly.
“We heard on October 24 that enough money had been raised, so the request for permission to appeal the decision has been lodged with the High Court.
“The speed with which the funding target was met shows the strength of feeling among 1950s women and their supporters.”
A date for the hearing has not yet been set but is expected to be in November.
For more information, visit Backto60.com
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here