Waspi women refused payouts – but what other compensation bills are looming? | Global News Avenue

The government is facing a backlash after it refuses to compensate women affected by changes to the state pension age.

In the opposition, senior Labor officials have been outspoken supporters of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign, which believes 3.6 million women born in the 1950s are not receiving proper information about state pension ages improvement, bringing them in line with men. .

Before Labor took power, both Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall and the Prime Minister himself were photographed posing with campaigners holding signs supporting their cause.

The party’s 2017 and 2019 general election manifestos promised to compensate those affected, but this commitment was not included in this year’s manifesto.

Back in March, the council and the health service ombudsman recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 per person.

Ministers apologized for the delay in informing women of the changes, but the government said paying a flat rate to everyone affected would cost up to £10.5bn and would be unfair to taxpayers.

The ombudsman said it was “extremely rare” for an organization to refuse to act on its recommendations, but it could not force the government to do so.

It is worth noting that while the Conservatives did not respond to the ombudsman’s report while in power, the ombudsman said at the time that the Department for Work and Pensions had indicated it would refuse to comply with its compensation proposals.

The row illustrates the challenges of moving from opposition to government – when money must be found to pay for any promises.

WASP women are not the only group calling for financial compensation.

The government has inherited a huge compensation package to resolve the historic scandal, and other plans may be in the pipeline.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 deputy postmasters were prosecuted for obtaining incorrect information from faulty Horizon computer systems.

The scandal has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Britain’s history.

The previous Conservative government established several different compensation schemes for victims. These measures have continued under the new Labor government, which has also launched an additional scheme to cover deputy postmasters whose convictions have been overturned by new legislation.

Around £500m has been paid out to more than 3,300 claimants so far, with individual amounts ranging from £10,000 to more than £1m.

The October budget set aside £1.8bn for the Horizon compensation scheme in 2024/25, but the government has not yet estimated the total amount expected to be paid.

In the 1970s and 1980s, more than 30,000 people in the UK became infected with HIV and hepatitis C after taking contaminated blood products.

Since then, more than 3,000 people have died and thousands more have suffered from poor health.

A public inquiry has accused doctors, the government and the NHS of repeatedly failing patients, who were not informed of the risks of treatment or even whether they were infected.

October’s budget includes £11.8 billion to compensate victims, which is thought to be the largest payment of its kind in NHS history.

Around 4,000 survivors and bereaved partners have already received a series of interim payments from 2022, worth up to £310,000 each.

Although homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK in 1967, it was still illegal for homosexuals to serve in the British military until 2000.

An independent report in 2023 detailed decades of homophobia and bullying, with those perceived to be gay often subjected to abuse investigations and medical examinations before being discharged from hospital.

The previous Conservative government accepted the report’s recommendations for compensation for those affected by the ban.

Earlier this month, the new Labor government announced that LGBT veterans who were dismissed from the armed forces because of their homosexuality would be eligible for up to £70,000 each.

The total amount available for payment has increased to £75m from the £50m initially reported.

According to the National Audit Office, up to 4,000 veterans are expected to be eligible.

More than 20,000 military personnel took part in British nuclear weapons tests in Australia, Fiji and other Pacific islands in the 1950s and 1960s, and an estimated 1,500 are still alive.

Thousands of people suffer from cancer and other diseases, and some of their children are born with disabilities.

Campaigners say there is evidence the illnesses were caused by exposure to radiation during testing and that the British military knew at the time it posed a risk to people.

The Defense Department has long maintained that studies have found no link between the tests and poor health or genetic defects in children and that no records were withheld.

But campaigners have renewed their calls for compensation after new potential evidence emerged.

Back in 2019, then Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn pledged £50,000 for every surviving British nuclear test veteran.

His successor, Sir Keir Starmer, met with campaigners in 2021 but made no commitments on spending.

The government says it is listening to veterans’ concerns, but whether that will lead to financial compensation remains to be seen.