Hartlepool WASPI women's pension campaigners vow to fight on after appeal court defeat

A Hartlepool campaign group has vowed to keep on fighting after a national court challenge against controversial changes to women’s state pensions failed.

Published 15th Sep 2020, 15:33 BST

Updated 15th Sep 2020, 15:34 BST

Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Coordinators of the Hartlepool WASPI (Women Against State Pension Injustice) Supporters Group told of their disappointment at the Court of Appeal ruling.

Campaigners Julie Delve, 62, from Cumbria and Karen Glynn, 63, from Cheshire, supported by campaign group BackTo60, brought the appeal after losing a landmark High Court fight against the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) last year.

Nearly four million women born in the 1950s, including over 5,000 in Hartlepool, have been affected by reforms introduced by successive governments to raise the state pension age for the group from 60 to 66.

Members of the Hartlepool WASPI group during the unveiling of a plaque at a statue of Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester in March in memory of more than 90,000 women who died without receiving their pension after the Government increased the age for women.

Members of the Hartlepool WASPI group during the unveiling of a plaque at a statue of Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester in March in memory of more than 90,000 women who died without receiving their pension after the Government increased the age for women.

Ms Delve and Ms Glynn argued it unlawfully discriminated against them on the grounds of age and sex, and that they were not given adequate notice of the changes.

But in a judgement published on Tuesday, September 15, Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton, Lord Justice Underhill and Lady Justice Rose dismissed the women’s claim.

They found that introducing the same state pension age for men and women did not amount to unlawful discrimination under EU or human rights laws.

Barbara Crossman, of the Hartlepool WASPI Supporters Group, which contributed to funding for the court fight, said: “I'm sorry it didn't go the way we hoped not only for ourselves but for all members of Hartlepool WASPI Supporters Group.

"It's a sad day for our generation of women when governments didn't think us worthy of a second class stamp to inform us of the pension age changes that have devastated so many women's lives.”

The senior justices added that while they sympathised with the women affected it was not a case where the court could interfere with the decisions of Parliament.

Lynne Taylor, fellow coordinator of the Hartlepool group, said on its Facebook page she was disappointed with the court’s ruling despite new evidence that was put forward adding: “Barbara and I will never ever give up this fight, we will regroup and plan our next move, we are down but not out.”

Read more: Drive to tackle homelessness and isolation in Hartlepool

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Hartlepool Mail website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here.

Thank you.