A HEARING in the Court of Appeal in July will have far-reaching implications for the 200,000 women in Wales born in the 1950s.
The hearing, listed for July 21, is crucial for the over 10,000 women in Pembrokeshire & Carmarthen West, who have been denied up to six years of the State Pensions they paid into throughout their working lives. The Pension Acts of 1995 and 2011 gave very little notice of this major change to their financial positions after the age of 60.
In June last year the case was heard for the first time in the High Court, brought by the Back To 60 Campaign and led by Michael Mansfield QC. The High Court announced in October that the women’s case of sex and age discrimination had been rejected “on all grounds”. A fresh hearing will now take place in the Court of Appeal.
“This is a more senior court,” said a spokesperson from Pembrokeshire Women Against State Pension Injustice (WASPI).
“The case will be streamed live from the Court allowing millions of women & their supporters to follow it via the WASPI campaign 2018 Facebook page”.
The justices have committed to looking at all the legal grounds again. WASPI groups all over the UK, including here in Pembrokeshire have contributed to the costs of bringing the case.
We are very hopeful that this time the judgement will go in our favour, especially as Pembrokeshire WASPI have had no support from both of our local MPs, who do not support their constituents in this fight for justice for all 1950s women”,
Senedd Member Elin Jones told The Herald: “I really hope that this time 1950s women will get the justice they deserve,” she said. “They have been treated very unfairly. They paid into the National Insurance fund for decades, only to be told at the last minute that they would have to wait several more years for the pensions they were relying on from age 60.”
