MPs backing the WASPI campaign have renewed their calls for immediate action and compensation for the women affected.
SNP MP Marion Fellows told Express.co.uk: “It is a further stain on UK justice. A WASPI woman dies every 13 minutes.
“After all these years a £10,000 payment is what these women deserve. I have met with them and I have demonstrated with them. Now I want to see immediate action from the Government.”
MPs calling for action had some success this week as they secured a backbench debate on the question of granting compensation.
Ms Fellows said: “It is incredible to think that this has been a big issue for so many years because of the complete lack of action from the UK Government.
“The PHSO [Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman] report wants this referred to Parliament because of the attitude of the DWP. I have been at rallies alongside WASPI women from my constituency.
“I and my SNP colleagues will raise this in parliament at every opportunity. The script here is all too familiar. People waiting years for any kind of justice or any kind of compensation.
“The incredible wait for justice shows the same pattern of government failure that we have seen with Windrush or the Post Office scandal.”
The PHSO last month published a report calling for compensation payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950, and urging Parliament to take up the issue.
Conservative MP John Penrose is also backing the campaign. He said: “It is essential that the women who’ve been affected get proper compensation.
“There probably won’t be a single amount that everybody should get because the Ombudsman makes clear there are many different types of cases where women experienced different levels of injustice.”
He said he has been contacted by many constituents worried about the issue but that he would be pushing for compensation in any case, as “it’s the right thing to do”.
The MP said: “I’ve been badgering ministers about it regularly and, along with a cross-party group of other MPs, I’ve sent a letter to Government urging to get cracking on this.
“The Ombudsman is clear that the original failings didn’t happen on a Conservative Government’s watch but, now we know what happened, we will become part of the problem if we don’t deal with the injustice quickly.
“Everyone understands that finding a fair answer won’t be easy, because the Ombudsman says it’s a complex picture where women experienced different levels of injustice.
“So I don’t envy Ministers having to work out an answer, but we can’t let that become an excuse for foot-dragging. We need action and we need it now.”
A bill to set out a framework for compensation levels was due to have its second reading in Parliament this week, but Alan Brown MP decided to delay the reading until next month, as it was so far down the list it would not get a proper debate.
Labour MP Grahame Morris is also pushing for the Government to act. He said: “The PHSO’s recommendations fail to acknowledge the full extent of the hardship and suffering caused to WASPI women.
“In my view, these recommendations represent the minimum level of compensation they should receive and I continue to support the more than 5,000 women in my constituency seeking full recompense.
“The Government has sought to delay and frustrate this campaign, meaning over 250,000 women have died without receiving pension justice.
“The Government must act in a timely manner to establish a fair system of compensation in order to right this historic injustice.”
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