Campaigners lose High Court challenge against Government rise in state pension age for millions of women
3 min read
Campaigners have lost a High Court battle against a Government move to increase the state pension age which hit millions of women.
The hike in retirement age for women aged 60 to 65 led to claims from women born in the 1950s that they were not given enough notice to adjust plans for the years in which they expected to receive a pension.
Ministers came under fire over the way they introduced the policy, which left nearly four million women expecting to receive funds at 60 having to wait for the payments to kick in.
It is estimated that some women lost out on more than £40,000 because of the move, which the Government said was needed to make the retirement age the same for both men and women.
Two women from the campaign group Backto60 took the Department of Work and Pensions to court this summer over the change, arguing that raising their pension age “unlawfully discriminated against them on the grounds of age, sex, and age and sex combined”.
But on Thursday, judges ruled that there was “no direct discrimination” against the women.
In a summary of the court’s decision, they said: "There was no direct discrimination on grounds of sex, because this legislation does not treat women less favourably than men in law. Rather it equalises a historic asymmetry between men and women and thereby corrects historic direct discrimination against men."
The court also dismissed the argument of age discrimination.
But Lord Justice Irwin and Mrs Justice Whipple told the court they were “saddened by the stories contained in the claimants’ evidence".
"The wider issues raised by the claimants about whether the choices were right or wrong or good or bad were not for the court," they added.
"They were for members of the public and their elected representatives."
'TERRIBLE BLOW'
The SNP’s Mhairi Black said her party would continue to back the campaign despite the “disappointing” ruling.
“This is a disappointing ruling for the thousands of women who have been fighting tirelessly against pension injustice, but the campaign of 1950s women continues,” she said.
“The SNP will continue to stand up for WASPI women against the cavalier attitude of this Tory government who appear hell-bent on short-changing pensioners across Scotland and the whole UK.
“It’s time for the Tories to undertake a full impact assessment on how successive UK governments have disadvantaged WASPI women. Once this assessment has been completed, a payment acknowledging any disadvantage caused should be made to 1950s women without delay.”
Labour’s Jon Trickett meanwhile said the outcome was “deeply upsetting” - but the Shadow Cabinet Office minister vowed to continue to support the campaign.
Union Unson condemned the judgment as “cruelly snatching away” justice from the group.
General secretary Dave Prentis said: “This is a terrible blow for the millions of women who will have been hoping for a very different outcome today.
“The decision to hike the state pension age with next to no notice didn’t just throw their retirement plans up in the air, it also left many women on lower incomes really struggling to make ends meet.
“Now, almost a quarter of a century later, justice and the state pension that was so cruelly snatched away from them remain disappointingly out of reach."
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