The government has said it won’t be compensating women hit by changes to the state pension age, despite years of campaigning and a watchdog recommending payouts. It’s sparked backlash across the political divide. Listen to Politics at Jack and Sam’s as you scroll.
Wednesday 18 December 2024 08:03, UK
The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has just been speaking to broadcasters to give her reaction to the second month in a row of a rise in inflation.
It ticked up from 2.3% in October to 2.6% in November.
Ms Reeves said the figure is “comparable to other countries around the world”, pointing to inflation in the US at 2.7%, and 2.3% in the Eurozone.
“So, broadly in line with our international peers,” she said, but added: “I recognise that the cost of living crisis continues to bite.”
She pointed to an increase in the national living wage and freezing the fuel duty as measures the government is taking to help with the cost of living.
“So we recognise the challenges that families remain under, and are taking action to address that ongoing cost of living challenge,” she said.
We’ve just been speaking with government minister Rushanara Ali, and we started with the decision not to compensate Waspi women, which has been branded a “betrayal”.
In the mid-1990s, the government passed a law to raise the retirement age for women over a 10-year period to make it equal with men. The coalition government then sped up the timetable as part of its cost-cutting measures.
The Waspi group say millions suffered financially as they were not given sufficient warning to prepare for the later retirement age.
Ms Ali told us that it was a “difficult decision” not to compensate them, but said it would cost up to £10bn, which “we don’t feel is fair or proportionate in terms of use of public money”.
The delay in the women receiving letters informing them of the change “would not have made a difference” to nine out of ten women, but the situation is “deeply regrettable”.
We showed Ms Ali pictures of ministers including the work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, campaigning with Waspi women before they entered government.
Asked if she can understand why no one would believe a word they say, she said the government has apologised for the delay in informing women of the change to the pension age, and pointed to the triple lock on pensions remaining in place.
As the exchange became more and more testy, Sky’s Kay Burley put to the minister what the deputy PM has previously said, which is that “any government would act responsibly towards these women”.
Asked if this government is irresponsible, she replied: “No, absolutely not.”
She added: “We are focused on improving living standards and improving the circumstances of pensioners as well as people across our country.”
By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter
Councils will receive a cash injection of nearly £1bn next year to tackle homelessness in England, Angela Rayner has announced.
The deputy prime minister and housing secretary said 160,000 children faced spending Christmas without a regular home due to failures in the system and vowed to “break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and get back on track to ending it for good”.
The funding, described by Ms Rayner as the “largest-ever” investment and a “turning point”, will help councils intervene early to stop households becoming homeless, including through mediation with landlords to prevent eviction.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the money could also be used on services that prioritise access to permanent social housing for people with a history of repeat homelessness and drug and alcohol abuse.
The latest statistics show that homelessness, which includes people living in temporary accommodation, is at record levels, with 123,100 households in England in temporary accommodation in the three months to the end of June.
The figure marks an increase of 16.3% on the same period the previous year.
We’ve just had a statement from the chancellor reacting to the news that inflation has risen for the second month in a row (see previous post).
Rachel Reeves said: “I know families are still struggling with the cost of living, and today’s figures are a reminder that for too long the economy has not worked for working people.
“That’s why at the budget we protected their payslips with no rise in their national insurance, income tax or VAT, boosted the national living wage by £1,400 and froze fuel duty.”
She added: “Since we arrived, real wages have grown at their fastest in three years.
“That’s an extra £20-a-week after inflation. But I know there is more to do.
“I want working people to be better off, which is what our Plan for Change will deliver.”
Inflation has risen again, from 2.3% in October to 2.6% in November.
Economists had been expecting the CPI figure to rise to around 2.6% or 2.7%.
While today’s percentage is above the Bank of England’s 2% target, it is still within what economists say is a normal range.
Inflation had always been expected to tick up again in the back end of 2024 after falling over the summer, with energy bills rising in winter time.
It is likely too soon for the 30 October budget to have impacted these November figures – though the Bank of England has said further base rate cuts will have to be gradual while it assesses any inflationary impact of extra taxes for business and a hike in the minimum wage.
Yesterday, ONS data showed annual UK wages grew 5.2% in the three months to October.
The BoE’s next base rate decision is tomorrow lunchtime – with markets suggesting a hold at 4.75% is highly likely.
As the backlash grows to the decision not to compensate Waspi women, pictures of Labour cabinet ministers campaigning with them while in opposition have been circulating.
That includes Rachel Reeves, who is now chancellor and in control of the government’s purse strings.
She was photographed back in 2020 backing their campaign “for state pension justice” at an event at the University of Portsmouth.
It was to mark International Women’s Day.
A Facebook post from Waspi at the time says members enjoyed a “fascinating evening and were delighted that Rachel supports our campaign for state pension justice”.
By Faye Brown, political reporter
Sir Keir Starmer has defended a decision not to compensate women affected by changes to their retirement age – saying doing so would “burden” the taxpayer.
The prime minister said he understood the concerns of the Women Against State Pension Inequality – often known as Waspi women – but their demands were not affordable.
He was speaking after Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall issued an apology for a 28-month delay in sending out letters to those born in the 1950s impacted by state pension changes.
However, she said she doesn’t accept that compensation should be paid.
Ms Kendall said the “great majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing” and that a state-funded pay-out wouldn’t be “fair or value for taxpayers’ money'”.
The announcement was branded a “day of shame” by the Liberal Democrats, who accused the Labour government of “turning its back on millions of pension-age women who were wronged”.
Good morning!
Welcome back to the Politics Hub on this Wednesday, 18 December.
Sir Keir Starmer is back in the country today after another trip to meet with allies on the world stage – and he is decidedly less popular here than he was there.
The PM is returning to yet another backlash to a decision he has made – this time, the choice not to compensate women born in the 1950s whose pension was affected by a change to the pension age, something it was thought he would do.
He will face Kemi Badenoch in the final PMQs of the year at 12pm – and she will probably ask about a different topic entirely, if the last few weeks are anything to go by.
What the government wants to talk about is their announcement of a cash injection of nearly £1bn next year to tackle homelessness in England, which deputy PM Angela Rayner says will be a “turning point”.
But this announcement will likely be overshadowed by the latest inflation data, which will be published at 7am.
Over in parliament…
As ministers for women and equalities, Bridget Phillipson and Anneliese Dodds will take questions from MPs in the Commons from 11.30am – after which Sir Keir Starmer will face PMQs.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting will be questioned by the Health and Social Care Committee about his and his department’s work so far. We’ll have live coverage from 9.30am.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner and housing minister Matthew Pennycook will also be questioned by a committee today – they’ll appear before the Lords Built Environment Committee to talk about their housing plans from 4.30pm.
We’ll be discussing all of that and more with:
Follow along for the very latest political news.
We’re bringing our live politics coverage to a close for the day.
Our focus since lunchtime has been the growing backlash to the government’s decision not to set aside money to compensate women who were hit by changes to the state pension age.
Millions of women, born in the 1950s, were hoping for payouts that would’ve added up to around £10bn – something the prime minister has said would have been unfair on taxpayers.
But having campaigned with the so-called Waspi women when in opposition, that stance isn’t going down well.
Tap through the key points above for a full catch-up – and we hope to see you back here tomorrow for PMQs.
Nigel Farage has revealed he held in-person talks with Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Florida estate this week.
It comes after reports the SpaceX and Tesla owner is considering a massive donation to Reform UK.
Farage has denied reports of a $100m (£78m) donation, but our chief political correspondent Jon Craig makes the point: “You wouldn’t take your treasurer if you weren’t going to talk about money.”
That’s a reference to billionaire Nick Candy, who defected from the Tories over to Reform and joined Farage at the Musk meeting.
How could Musk donate to Reform?
Farage has said Musk is “not opposed to the idea of giving us money provided we can do it legally through UK companies”.
“That’s crucial,” says Jon, as foreign donations above £500 are illegal.
“What Elon Musk would have to do is do it through the UK arm of one of his companies, either X or Tesla,” Jon explains.
Or he could become a UK citizen – according to Musk’s father, his grandmother’s actually British.
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