Please find below the YouTube recordings from the two Salford City Radio shows on 9 July and 16 July 2024.
Key points are summarised below
Well worth a listen for ALL 50sWomen, their supporters, and anyone with an interest in Women's Rights!!
9 July 2024:
Kris Gibson BackTo60 and CEDAWinLAW campaigner
There was no mention of discrimination against 50sWomen in manifestos
"It's not as if they (MPs) don't know about discrimination. Hundreds have signed Early Day Motions. Labour set aside £58bn in 2019 as a moral obligation"
"It is hard to imagine any policy change that would have a bigger exacerbatory impact on existing inequalities than that of taking £181.4bn from one of the most disadvantaged groups in society, when those women had a legitimate expectation of receiving that money and had planned for it"
"Any settlement that fails to take account of discrimination will NOT represent justice"
"Only 9% of MPs were women when decisions were made by Parliament in 1995"
Decisions were made about 50sWomen by mainly privileged men without consultation, impact assessment, proper notification or reference to CEDAW
The absence of women from decision making systems represents a serious Human Rights violation
Pleading an insufficiency in domestic law is not, under International Law, an acceptable excuse for failure to implement provisions of a treaty
Jackie Gilderdale of Pembrokeshire & Carmarthen West branch of 1950s Women of Wales
"We have spent 10 years lobbying Parliament, the Senedd, Trade Unions and finally had our voices heard by the All Party Parliamentary Group & Select Committee earlier this year"
"We have had phenomenal support from the Welsh Parliament across the parties"
"The ask is based on proven discrimination and full maladministration, and calls for compensation for specific economic loss, the impact of that loss and for posthumous payments"
"This has been a breach of both domestic and International Law and of 50sWomen's enforceable rights"
"As of 31 March 2024 there was a surplus of £88.3bn in the National Insurance Fund"
Dr Davina Lloyd BackTo60 and CEDAWinLAW Special Envoy for all 50sWomen
"The CEDAW committee set a target for the UK Govt in 2019: Take effective measures to ensure the increase in State Pension Age from 60 to 66 does not have a discriminatory impact on women born in the 1950s" The review is overdue.
"CEDAWinLAW has made an inquiry submission to the CEDAW Committee containing reliable information on alleged grave &/or systematic violations of rights enshrined in CEDAW by the UK State Party, under Article 8 of the optional protocol of the convention"
"The new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has been invited by CEDAWinLAW to mediation talks"
There is no excuse not to pay out as "The fundamental principles of equal treatment cannot depend upon how much money happens to be available in the public coffers at any particular time....That argument would not avail a private employer and it should not avail the State" Lady Brenda Hale
16 July 2024:
David Hencke Award winning investigative journalist and lobby correspondent
We have one of the lowest State Pensions with already one of the highest qualifying ages. Does the new Labour govt want to be associated with this?
Or with further proposed rises, when increases in Life Expectancy have stalled & are even going down for the poorest?
Should compensation for 50sWomen be means tested for a cherry picked few victims?
"No way!" Are they going to means test compensation for the victims of the Infected Blood Scandal? This was a massive injustice. This would set a dreadful precedent & WASPI would be betraying 50sWomen if they accepted it
"It is compensation for injustice, it is not a handout"
Key points:
The former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions refused reasonable invitations to attend mediation talks with CEDAWinLAW
Yet it is clear that there is a dispute and there are real issues that need to be addressed by Government, from numerous Early Day Motions, petitions, publicity, and from the protracted Parliamentary Ombudsman report, therefore the new Secretary Of State for Work and Pensions would be wise to accept the invitation to mediation
The UK is one of only 3 countries that does not have a written constitution, so Parliament has supremacy
However, the Pensions Act of 1995 was passed after CEDAW had been signed and ratified by the UK, which obliges the Government under International Law to follow the principles of CEDAW in any new legislation
It is clear that 1950s Women were targeted and suffered from the impact of the changeover
In Dr Scutt's opinion, it cannot be argued that the claims of 1950s Women have no validity as both the High Court and Court of Appeal, although finding against Back to 60 in the Judicial Review, referred ALL GROUNDS to the higher court to be addressed. These grounds were never heard by the Supreme Court, therefore remain outstanding
The Ombudsman's report addresses maladministration only and does not address all the issues that need to be addressed, including Direct Discrimination on the grounds of age and sex or gender, and possible Indirect Discrimination in some cases on the grounds of marital status.
The CEDAWinLAW proposed remedy is a legitimate starting point for mediation discussions
The £58bn fully costed calculation for fair redress made by the Labour Party in 2019 stands as an undertaking and there is a moral imperative for the new Labour Government to address the outstanding issues
This wrong MUST be redressed
Enormous thanks to @SalfordCityRadio
Ian Rothwell @RothersonRadio
& Hayley Cartwright @haykate