Waspi women refused payment – ​​but what other compensation bills are to come?

The Government is facing criticism after rejecting compensation for women affected by changes to the state pension age.

In opposition, senior Labor figures were vocal supporters of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign, which argues that 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not properly informed about the increase in the state pension age. This was so that they could be brought equal to men. ,

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall and the Prime Minister himself are among those pictured with campaigners supporting their cause before Labor won power.

The party’s 2017 and 2019 general election manifestos promised compensation for those affected – but the pledge was not included in this year’s manifesto.

In March, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended payments of between £1,000 and £2,950 each.

Ministers have apologized for the delay in informing women about the changes, but the government says paying the same rate to all affected would cost up to £10.5 billion and would not be fair to taxpayers .

The ombudsman says it is “extremely rare” that an organization refuses to act on its recommendations – but he cannot force the government to do so.

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

The row is an example of the challenge of moving from opposition to government – ​​when funding has to be arranged to pay for a commitment.

Wasapi women are not the only group seeking financial solutions.

The government has already inherited a huge bill for compensation schemes addressing historical scams, with others potentially in the pipeline.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted for theft due to inaccurate information from the faulty Horizon computer system.

The scandal has been described as one of the largest miscarriages of justice ever seen in Britain.

The previous Conservative government established several different compensation schemes for victims. These have continued under the New Labor administration, which also introduced an additional scheme to cover sub-postmasters whose convictions were overturned by the new law.

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

The October Budget set aside £1.8bn for Horizon Compensation schemes for 2024/25 – but the Government has not given an estimate of how much it expects to pay out in total.

More than 30,000 people in Britain became infected with HIV and hepatitis C after being given contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.

More than 3,000 people have died since then while thousands more are battling health problems.

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

The October budget includes £11.8 billion to compensate victims, which is believed to be the largest payout of its kind in NHS history.

Nearly 4,000 survivors and bereaved partners have already received a series of interim payments of up to £310,000, starting in 2022.

Although homosexuality began to be decriminalized in Britain in 1967, it was illegal for gay people to serve in the British military until 2000.

An independent report in 2023 detailed decades of homophobia and bullying, with people deemed gay often having to undergo humiliating checks and medical examinations before being discharged.

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

Earlier this month the New Labor administration announced that LGBT veterans who were dismissed from the armed forces because they were gay will be eligible for up to £70,000 each.

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

More than 4,000 veterans are expected to be eligible, according to the National Audit Office.

More than 20,000 military personnel served as part of Britain’s nuclear weapons tests in Australia, Fiji and other Pacific islands during the 1950s and 60s, of whom an estimated 1,500 are still alive.

Thousands have suffered from cancer and other conditions, while some of their children have been born disabled.

Campaigners say the evidence shows the illnesses were caused by exposure to radiation during the tests – and the UK military knew at the time the danger it was posing to people.

The Defense Ministry has long insisted that research has found no link between the tests and children’s poor health or genetic defects and that no records have been hidden.

But campaigners have again stepped up their demands for compensation after new potential evidence emerged.

In 2019, then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn pledged £50,000 for every surviving British nuclear-testing veteran.

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

The government says it is listening to veterans’ concerns – but it remains to be seen whether this will result in financial compensation.