Solent WASPI continues fight following International Women’s Day
Solent Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) marked International Women’s Day 2025 in Fareham and Portsmouth while continuing their fight for justice.
Members visited the Unfurling Portsmouth’s Suffrage Banners exhibition at Portsmouth City Museum, drawing links between their campaign for compensation and the historic struggle for women’s rights.
Solent WASPI coordinator Shelagh Simmons said: "This is another IWD without justice for WASPI women. We owe a great debt to the brave women - including here in Portsmouth - who sacrificed so much so that we could have electoral representation.
"If the struggle for the vote taught us anything, it is that nothing is given willingly to women. We have to fight all the way for social justice - even, it seems, from a Government that claims to have that at its core."
A six-year investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to properly inform women about changes to the State Pension age. The report called it maladministration and recommended compensation, which the Labour Government rejected.
In response, the group launched a legal challenge through a CrowdJustice appeal, raising £75,000 in its first day and now surpassing £140,000.
As political leaders made speeches on equality for International Women’s Day, Simmons urged action over words: "On International Women's Day, there are plenty of warm words from politicians committing themselves to improving women's rights and standing up against injustice. But, as the suffrage campaigners would say, it is deeds not words that count. It's not too late for Ministers to reconsider their decision and to do the right thing.
"We strongly urge them to do so."
Next week, Portsmouth City Council will debate a motion put forward by councillors Matthew Winnington and Kimberly Barrett, which describes WASPI women as victims of serious injustice. It calls on the Labour government to rethink its stance and asks the council leader to write to local MPs and the Secretary of State to push for a debate and vote in Parliament.
Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she disagrees with her government’s decision and that “the situation requires a sensitive and just approach.”