CEREDIGION MP Ben Lake has called on on the UK Government to take responsibility and pay compensation to WASPI women.

The Plaid Cymru MP has this week called on the UK Government to accept the recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and pay compensation to WASPI women.

He noted that the Department for Work and Pensions had thus far refused to comply with the Ombudsman’s recommendation of compensation.

The report recommended that compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 be paid to WASPI women for “a significant and/or lasting injustice that has, to some extent, affected someone’s ability to live a relatively normal life”.

Mr Lake also called on the Labour Party to commit to compensating WASPI women if it were to form the next UK Government.

He urged the Government to provide compensation above that recommended by the PHSO, given the scale of the injustice faced by WASPI Women who have experienced financial and social harm, and which for many has had a severe impact on their quality of life.

On Sunday, both the Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and the Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds declined to say if they would compensate those who were found by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to have lost out financially after the Department for Work and Pensions failed to adequately communicate changes to the state pension age.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Lake said: “Political parties at Westminster cannot be allowed to fail WASPI women again. These women have suffered years of injustice, and yet the current UK Government continues to refute accountability and deny rightful compensation.

“In my own constituency of Ceredigion, over 5,000 women have been affected by this maladministration. They deserve justice, which must include swift and fair compensation.

“We will continue to support WASPI and pledge to help in any way we can.”

Speaking to the Cambrian News last week, WASPI member Pamela Judge, said: “The length of time the government is making us wait for compensation is cruel. So many 1950s women had their lives turned upside down when the pension they had expected to get at 60 wasn’t there.”