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Will the member give way?

Thank you, Mr Marra.

He is here.

I, too, welcome the WASPI women who are in the public gallery. I also welcome the opportunity to contribute, as I did in the members’ business debate last week. I declare an interest, as a pensioner, although I am fortunate in that I missed the change in pension age, being born in the mid-1940s, although my three younger sisters were affected.

Back then, it was expected that women would aim to get married, leave work to have children and perhaps return later. Broadly speaking, they were not expected to have a career or, if they did, they were expected to interrupt it for the children. That is what I did—I left my then profession of teaching for six years, as there was no formal childcare then. There was an assumption that the married woman would have her husband’s pension to rely on, as well as her own smaller pension through paying what was known as the small stamp, as I did. Any woman’s employment pension was also reduced because of those years out. That is how I recall those years, anyway.

However, although life has its ups and downs, there was that constant of the retirement age of 60 for women. It was a contract between women and Government that was founded in trust—it was secure. With changes in life expectancy and work patterns, change was on the cards, and I do not think that there is any argument about that. I think that WASPI women do not dispute the move towards equalisation; the issue is the way that it was done. There was not only a lack of proper information but a brutal loss of pensionable years, which has left many women in penury.

As a divorced older woman, and in common with many single women, including widows and divorcees, I had to plan and calculate how I could pay off my mortgage in line with my retirement. The extension of the state pension age by up to six years sabotaged financial plans, and we already had a smaller state pension—it is only by chance that I am still working. The financial penalties for women are high. For example, 23 per cent of single female Scottish pensioners live in relative poverty, and 66 per cent of pension credit claimants are women. To relate it to my constituency, in cold numbers, as many as 5,630 WASPI women in Midlothian and 8,740 across the Borders have lost out, many of whom have tirelessly campaigned for decades to right this wrong.

As I said, WASPI women have no argument with the equalisation of the pension age; the issue is the way that it was done, with immediate financial change compounded by the failure to publicise and inform of the changes. That is what the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found in its report, which was confined to the question of maladministration by the DWP. The report found that the women affected were not properly informed and that they deserved and should be awarded compensation. In other words, it would not be compensation for lost pension, which is another injustice; it would be compensation only for the failure to inform women, to enable them to adequately adjust matters for their financial future. The suggested figures are in the lower thousands of pounds, not tens of thousands.

The report states:

“Complainants have ... told us the Government Gateway website incorrectly stated State Pension age for women was 60 as late as 2016.”

It also states:

“Complainants have told us they did not see any of the publicly available information because, for example, they did not read magazines, did not see leaflets, or had no reason to visit Benefits Agency offices. And they say that because they had no reason to question their State Pension age, they did not request information.”

The PHSO has also stated:

“Given the scale of the impact of DWP’s maladministration, and the urgent need for a remedy, we are taking the rare but necessary step of asking Parliament to intervene.”

I emphasise the phrase “rare but necessary”. That brings me to Labour. The DWP has now said that introducing such a compensation scheme for women who were born in the 1950s would be “neither fair nor feasible”—contrast that with the phrase “rare but necessary”.

Now that their party is in Government, Labour MPs have erased many of their online comments in support of the WASPI women just as quickly as they stood for photo ops with the campaigners. Now—as is evidenced by the amendment, frankly—the Labour UK branch office is alive and well.

Today, Labour has nowhere to hide—not even in that amendment. Each of those 14,000-plus women across my constituency is an individual, so I will end with the words of Clare Ramage, who had to take early retirement at 58 and who established the Borders WASPI group.

“I was told that to get my state pension I would have to apply for it so at 58 I contacted the DWP to better understand how I go about this. I was then told that I would not get my state pension until I was 66 years old. I was shocked and said, But you never told me. To which they replied, ‘WE DIDN’T NEED TO’.

I felt powerless for the first time in my life. Who was going to fight for me as there was no union to help?”

That is when she set up WASPI Scottish Borders. She continues:

“Obviously we now have the Ombudsman’s findings that indeed the DWP did not inform these women about the changes to their pension age to give them time to set up alternative pensions.

Finally it angers me to see how we have been used by the Labour Party who fully supported us, signed petitions, got their pictures taken—for what, just votes?”

Those are Clare’s words. I could not say it better myself.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I take your word, but I pressed the intervention button and a delayed request to speak came up instead. This is not an age matter.

My point of order is that I am being denied the right to intervene because of electronic faults that are none of my doing.

I congratulate the member on securing the debate and I welcome members of the congress. I had better mention Richard Lyle or I will never live it down.

I want to make a brief contribution. Fairgrounds and shows are an important part of our agricultural shows, with their shiny new tractors, the powder-puffed sheep, the geese that have been marching against each other, the food stalls, the charity stalls and even the political stalls. Above all that, there is the noise and music and the familiar tunes of the fairgrounds—the happy homes of shows at the Border union in Kelso, at Peebles and at Penicuik, in the park. There is the timeless scream of the children who cannot make up their minds whether they are frightened or having a good time on some of the very scary rides and the dodgems. I wish them all well because of the atmosphere that they bring to agricultural shows, which nobody else has mentioned. I do not pitch Edinburgh against Glasgow; that is a waste of time—it is the Borders first.

Getting back to the issue, I have two confessions to make about the fairgrounds. First, I just cannae eat candy floss. It does not matter how it comes, I just cannae eat it, try as I will. Secondly, fairgrounds have given me, as a granny, the opportunity to indulge in things that I find very scary—although sometimes I am commanded to do so by my grandchildren. They do not find them scary, but they put the fear of God into this politician, and not many people can do that.

I thank the showpeople again for the great atmosphere that they bring to agricultural shows. I apologise for not being able to come to the reception later. Strangely enough, I am chairing something to do with salmon farming, which shows the diversity in the Parliament. I cannot see how I can put the two things together.

I say to the showpeople, “Keep it up”, because without fairgrounds our agricultural shows would be very dull places indeed.

Will the member take an intervention?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I am sorry to interrupt the member. All my buttons have come on now. It is as if it is playing tunes. I pressed the intervention button and it would not light up, but now they are all on.

I am sorry, but the light is not coming on, despite me pressing the button. My request-to-speak button has come on, and I have not touched it.