We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

MSE News: Government refuses to budge on women's state pension changes

2456789

Comments

  • jem16
    jem16 Posts: 19,723 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The WASPI campaign has been handled badly from the start as far as what realistically could be achieved. There was a small chance that the 2011 Act could have been looked at again by concentrating on the short notice aspect of it for those born between 1953 and 1956, especially those born in 1953/54 who were worst hit.

    However once Labour and SNP MPs started showing their "support" by misleading WASPI into thinking they had a genuine case for 1995 and roll back to state pension age at 60 for only 1950s women, the campaign was on a slippery slope to nowhere. At that point WASPI seemed to become a political pawn for MPs who had nothing to lose and all to gain from the publicity of opposing the "nasty" government.
  • bigadaj
    bigadaj Posts: 11,531 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Maybe their view was if you don't try, you don't get, failing to realise that a more moderate question would have had more chance of success.

    I was amazed when Osborne rolled over on tax credits, I could easily have seen a scenario where the changes were diluted as a concession, but simply giving up with the billions at stake was a real surprise to me.
  • Seabee42
    Seabee42 Posts: 448 Forumite
    Supposedly the tax credit changes will come in with the changes to universal credit so they really only postponed it.


    There really is no way you can cut £90billion pounds of spending a year out without making people worse of and everyone always wants it to be someone else.


    State pensions should never have been unequal and people having to work for longer goes hand in hand with improved longevity.
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 11,055 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Unfortunately the pressure group WASPI (who started the Petition) didn't stick to their original remit of campaigning against the 2011 changes.

    Reversing the 1995 changes and giving all women born in the 1950s a state pension at 60 was their original remit. They just neglected to mention it in the petition.
    SnowMan wrote:
    Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35476904

    I don't understand why, 10 years after the credit crunch, 6 years after Labour admitted they'd spent all the money, people still think it can be possible to get free money from the government without it being in any way a) difficult or b) degrading.

    Christine Mitchell got her Motability car back after appealing. This I am afraid is standard practice for many needs-based government benefits, turn virtually everyone down initially and then look at the ones who bother to appeal.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    Seabee42 wrote: »
    Supposedly the tax credit changes will come in with the changes to universal credit so they really only postponed it.
    I'm not sure what the govt were playing at here. The tax credits cuts were massive but they were only partially reflected in UC cuts. In tax credits the taper and thresholds were changed, in UC just the thresholds. This would have meant most people would have had a big cut in tax credits but then a rise when they went onto UC. Maybe they wanted to make nearly everyone better off on UC?

    Previously UC would have paid more to most people than tax credits & legacy benefits, and even now, after the cuts to UC and without the cuts to tax credits, only just over 50% of people will be worse off when they move to UC, according to the IFS:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35475350
    According to the IFS research, an estimated 2.1 million families will face an average loss of £1,600 a year, while 1.8 million will gain an average of £1,500.
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,891 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    SnowMan wrote: »
    Perhaps MSE could cover this rather than this nonsense WASPI self-interested campaign for women born in the 1950s to get their state pensions from age 60, for reasons that simply don't stand up to scrutiny (albeit the 2011 changes were with too little notification and it is reasonable to challenge these)
    In fairness, MSE were covering a rapidly growing petition created by a group of women affected by 2 acts of Government (not to mention a Facebook campaign alongside).
    I'm sure that if a petition was created and the same furore ensued, they would cover it (probably on the Benefits board).
    colsten wrote: »
    Talks of demos and chaining themselves to the gates of Buckingham Palace have been some of the less insane thoughts floated on Facebook and Twitter, so the entertainment value seems secured for some time yet.
    ROTFLMAO-R_zpsjzskhtq4.gif
  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 120,095 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I think MSE should take more care on what they support. If you are setting yourself up as a consumer champion to be taken seriously by the authorities then you need to have some balance in what you look at. Not just jump on popular bandwagons for the sake of it. Otherwise there will come a point when it is realised that you complain about anything and everything and you are a more a serial complainer rather than a consumer campaigner.

    The Daily Mail has a poor reputation on this front and you can see it in action at the moment with its campaign against Osborne's pension raid (yes, it calls the proposals a raid on pension funds). Take a few facts, ignore others, SPIN them and create a pointless campaign that no-one takes seriously apart from the audience they are playing to.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • coyrls
    coyrls Posts: 2,517 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    dunstonh wrote: »
    The Daily Mail has a poor reputation on this front and you can see it in action at the moment with its campaign against Osborne's pension raid (yes, it calls the proposals a raid on pension funds). Take a few facts, ignore others, SPIN them and create a pointless campaign that no-one takes seriously apart from the audience they are playing to.

    OK.... I didn't realise the Daily Mail was involved..... that explains a lot.
  • saver861
    saver861 Posts: 1,408 Forumite
    The point being missed by so many is that actually, it is not WASPI that generated their publicity, but the 'opposition' to WASPI.

    If those who had opposed WASPI had kept quiet, it would never have gotten to where it is now.

    The campaign in terms of getting the issue into the public domain has been entirely successful. It has now had coverage in all areas of the media and two debates in the HoC. That is down mainly to those who opposed it and wanted to shout louder. Had they stayed silent, so too would the campaign have been silent and mostly unheard of!!
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.1K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.4K Life & Family
  • 258.7K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.