MORE than 5000 Scottish Waspi women have died “waiting for justice” since 2020, new figures have shown.
Analysis of statistics from the National Records of Scotland by the SNP showed that 5060 Scottish women died younger than 66 after changes to the state pension age for women came into force from October 2026.
It comes despite Andy Burnham saying that women affected by changes to the state pension age “deserve some recompense for the unfairness” while campaigning in the Makerfield by-election, which propelled him to Downing Street.
The changes, which affected women born in the 1950s, were not properly communicated by the Government, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman ruled in 2024.
It recommended compensation of between £1000 and £2950 per person affected, which it is estimated would have cost between £3.5 billion and £10.5bn.
The new figures were blasted by the SNP, who said the women who died before reaching the age of 66 since 2020 were “victims of yet another Labour Party broken promise”.
SNP MSP Clare Haughey told the Sunday National: “More than two Waspi women a day have died in Scotland since 2020 waiting for justice – waiting for the compensation that they were promised, that they were entitled to. These figures should shame the Labour Party.
“Thousands of Scottish women have died without receiving a penny of the pension they had worked hard for all their lives – victims of yet another Labour Party broken promise.
“Westminster has let down the Waspi women time and time again – the Labour Party promised compensation before abandoning the women as soon as they got their feet in the door of No 10.
"Only the SNP have been on the side of Scotland’s Waspi women throughout, and we will continue to call for Westminster to deliver the justice they deserve.”
Then work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall ruled out compensation in 2024, telling MPs: “These two facts – that most women knew the state pension age was increasing and that letters aren't as significant as the ombudsman says, as well as other reasons – have informed our conclusion that there should be no scheme of financial compensation to 1950s-born women.”
It came despite her and other senior Labour MPs campaigning with Waspi women before coming to power and was met with fierce criticism.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden responded to the Ombudsman’s report in full earlier this year and ruled out compensation, saying that the “majority” of women affected were aware of pension age changes.
The UK Government’s response noted: “Creating a scheme to assess individual injustice would be highly impractical due to high claim volumes and the need to review each case. A rules-based or flat-rate system would also face significant challenges, with the potential for a high number of unjustified payments.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “The Secretary of State set out the Government’s position in his oral statement to Parliament, including acceptance of maladministration and apologies to the women affected.
“Our focus now is on delivering an action plan to implement lessons learned in how the Department for Work and Pensions communicates State Pension matters going forward.”
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