A WASPI campaign leader had hit out at a new Labour tax adviser who called for tax hikes targeting pensioners.
Former Treasury tax adviser Sir Edward Troup has been appointed by Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves to help her look at how to clamp down on tax avoidance.
The new aide has been criticised for his previous comments from 2019 when he urged for higher taxes for pensioners who “had it ridiculously good”.
He said his generation of baby boomers had benefited from low interest rates and good returns on their pension investments, and so could afford higher tax bills.
Angela Madden, chair of WASPI, told Express.co.uk: “He obviously never had a mortgage in the 70s when we did, right up to the 90s when interest rates rose 17 percent and stayed in double figures right until Gordon Brown passed over interest rates to the Bank of England.
“It was only then that they got into single figures. Interest rates were hellish when we had our mortgages.”
WASPI (Women against state pension inequality) campaigners are calling on Parliament to hold a debate and vote on providing compensation for women affected by the issue.
She also expressed her disappointment this week with comments from a Conservative policymaker, after pensions minister Mel Stride resfued to commit to a timetable for a vote on the WASPI issue.
Mr Stride told ITV there would not be an “undue delay” on the question but said he wanted “sufficient time” to mull over the issue.
Ms Madden said of his comments: “Rarely has anyone spoken at such length whilst saying so little.”
She urged the Government to take action on the issue immediately, adding: “Whilst Mr Stride can’t be ‘tied down to a specific moment in time’ to deliver the answers we desperately need, another WASPI woman dies every 13 minutes.
“The Ombudsman instructed Parliament to help deliver compensation, and so the Government must make time for MPs to debate and vote on any proposals they come up with.
“There is no more time left for delay. With more than 200,000 people signing an open letter to the Leader of the Commons to demand a vote in Parliament, the Government must commit to fair and fast compensation now and give MPs a vote after recess.”
A recent report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 for the WASPI women.
But campaigners and some MPs have called for even bigger compensation payments of £10,000 or more.
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