It is a betrayal that sticks in the craw of anyone who believes a promise should be a promise.
Labour’s abandonment of the Waspi women could be the Government’s most audacious treachery yet.
Until recently Sir Keir Starmer, along with many other Labour MPs, was happy to pose with campaigners and highlight the ‘real injustice’ they suffered when changes were made to the State pension age.
Not so long ago Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall was trumpeting her undying support on her personal website.
With the kiss of Judas, she insisted, ‘this injustice can’t go on!’ and bragged ‘I have been a longstanding supporter of the Waspi campaign!’
Today Ms Kendall compounded, rather than relieved, any injustice they have faced by standing up in the Commons and publicly stabbing them in the back.
The minister threw out the key recommendation of an ombudsman and said the cost of compensating the women would not be a ‘fair or proportionate use of taxpayers’ money’.
All this comes after Labour scrapped the winter fuel payment for all but the poorest pensioners – the previous contender for Sir Keir’s biggest sell-out.
Sir Keir with WASPI campaigners in 2022. Until recently the PM, along with many other Labour MPs, was happy to pose with campaigners and highlight the ‘real injustice’ they suffered
Liz Kendal with a WASPI woman. Not so long ago Work and Pensions Secretary was trumpeting her undying support for the campaign on her personal website
One of the key reasons why Labour has so little financial flexibility is its willingness to splurge hundreds of millions on pay rises for its trade union paymasters.
As a former criminal barrister, the PM should remember that repeatedly victimising pensioners tends to go down badly with those deciding one’s future.
The Waspi perfidy is yet another example of how Sir Keir would apparently say anything, and support any cause, in order to win power.
Migration maths
A government minister’s role was once defined by a Victorian grandee as ‘answering yes or no, on imperfect information’.
Nowhere is this more true than in the arena of 21st century immigration.
We lack hard facts on how Britain is being shaped, and many would say scarred, by the massive levels of migration we have seen in recent decades.
There is no up-to-date estimate of how many foreign nationals are in the country, nothing on welfare claims or arrests by nationality, and so on.
It is to be welcomed, therefore, that the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has produced new data on foreign workers’ contributions to the UK’s coffers.
In what it described as a ‘like for like’ calculation, foreign visa-holders pay, on average, £3,300 less in tax than a British worker.
The UK border at Heathrow. It is to be welcomed that the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has produced new data on foreign workers’ contributions to the UK’s coffers
An inflatable boat carrying migrants travels across the English Channel in August this year. The MAC has vowed to improve the mathematics behind immigration numbers
Overall, skilled foreign workers contribute more to the Treasury a year than they consume in public services. But that same group is barred from claiming most benefits and the calculation only looks at one year’s worth of migrants, not those who have come here year after year.
The MAC has vowed to improve the mathematics behind its numbers, but even on their first effort cracks in the immigration system are already beginning to show.
Those who have told us in the past that mass immigration means a bonanza for the Exchequer will not be able to make similar claims with such confidence in the future.
We must have the full picture if this vital issue is to be properly debated. Only then can informed voters act accordingly if – as we fear – immigration running into millions has cost this country dear.
