A Waspi woman has reacted with anger after the Conservative manifesto did not include any promise of compensation.
“It’s enraging,” said Susan Bolland, one of the 1950s-born women affected by major changes to the state pension age.
“The Conservatives have had so much time to address this. I’m not expecting anything in the Labour manifesto either, which is absolutely appalling,” added the 68-year-old.
It comes despite a parliamentary watchdog finding the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guilty of “maladministration” over the failure to properly notify women that their pension age was increasing.
March’s damning report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) recommended payments of between £1,000 and £2,950 for Waspi women.
Like others, Ms Bolland’s retirement plans were disrupted after the Government increased the state pension age for women from 60 to 65, and then later 66.
In desperate need of equity, Ms Bolland and her husband sold their home on England’s south coast and moved to a cheaper property almost 500 miles away in Scotland.
The couple left behind their three children and six grandchildren in Poole, Dorset, to move to Irvine on Scotland’s Ayrshire coast when she turned 60.
Ms Bolland, who now campaigns with the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group, was 58 when she discovered that she would not be getting the state pension she had been expecting at 60 until she was 66.
Working as a senior buyer for a charity, she decided that she would stop working at 60 anyway and come up with another way of funding her retirement.
“I knew I wanted to stop working. I wanted to enjoy my retirement because you don’t know what health problems you may have, or how long you have left,” she said.
She and her husband, who both grew up in the west of Scotland, had spent 25 years living in Poole in Dorset, where they raised their three children.
“The ideal plan was to stay near the children. I was reluctant to leave because we had our family in the area,” said Ms Bolland.
“The only way I could see managing in retirement was selling the property and moving to Scotland. So that’s what we did. It was a less expensive house. It freed up equity.”
Ms Bolland and her husband, who is one year older, got by on their small occupational pensions until they qualified for the state pension.
She estimates that she lost out around £45,000 because of the hugely controversial pension age changes overseen by the DWP.
“For me, the financial situation was the biggest reason to move,” she said. “It’s not a decision I regret. We’re happy at the decision we made. We like where we live – I really like Irvine.
“It’s just that retirement has been more difficult than we wanted. We’re still able to see the children and grandchildren regularly – but maybe not as much as we’d like. Women my age have had to make big decisions they didn’t expect.”
The Liberal Democrats, SNP and Greens have come out strongly in favour of a compensation scheme. The Lib Dems pledged to make sure Waspi women “are finally treated fairly and properly compensated” in their manifesto.
However, the Conservatives have not committed to compensation, only saying that they would continue to “consider” the findings of the three-month-old PHSO report.
The Tory manifesto referred to the issue in a single line: “We are carefully considering the ombudsman report into the Waspi women and will work with Parliament to provide an appropriate and swift response.”
Ms Bolland, a co-ordinator of Cunninghame Waspi group in Ayrshire, said: “The minister [Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride] has said he needed time to read the report.
“But it took me an hour or so to read it. And I’m sure I could have made a compensation plan in a week.”
It appears Keir Starmer’s Labour is also set to reject the idea of compensation when his party’s manifesto is published on Thursday.
Last week, shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves indicated that there would be no commitment to payments for Waspi women, making clear that the party had “not set out any money for this”.
Ms Bolland said: “Are Labour really going to ignore the ombudsman? What does that say about democracy? Rachel Reeves has said Labour hasn’t set aside any money for this. But she has been photographed with Waspi women.”
She added: “They’ve flip-flopped. We feel let down. We’ll be waiting to see if it’s in the Labour manifesto, but we’ll keep fighting if it isn’t.
“The next government will need to deal with us, sooner or later. We’re going to keep fighting hard. We’re not going away. We’re not going to stop.”
Responding to the Tory manifesto, Angela Madden, Waspi’s national chair, said: “While the Conservative Party say they want to act swiftly, ministers have had 12 weeks to set out their response following the publication of the ombudsman’s report.”
“There is simply no more time for delay. Whoever is elected must bring forward urgent financial redress proposals within 100 days of the next parliament.”
The Conservatives and Labour have been contacted for comment.