Kay Burley Makes Minister Squirm In Uncomfortable Interview Over Lack Of Waspi Women's Compensation

Presenter Kay Burley clashed repeatedly with a minister this morning when asking about the government’s controversial decision not to compensate the Waspi women.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group want the government to give compensation to women who lost out when the state pension age was increased.

It went up from 60 to 65 to be equal with men’s between 2010 and 2018, and is now at 66 – but women born in the 1950s say they were not properly informed at the time.

Even though many individual ministers campaigned on behalf of the Waspi women when in opposition, and a parliamentary ombudsman recommended a £10.5bn compensation scheme in March, the government decided this week not to give the group any money after all.

Sky News’ Burley then began her interview with minister Rushanara Ali by showing her how the government has been torn apart by today’s front pages over its decision.

Ali said it was “of course” it is a very difficult choice for the government, but noted work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall had apologised in the House on Tuesday and that “lessons needed to be learnt”.

Ali added that the government did not think that sum was “fair or proportionate”.

So Burley asked: “Who do you think middle-class women of a certain age would find more offensive right now – Gregg Wallace or Keir Starmer?”

MasterChef presenter Wallace recently slammed complaints made about his conduct on the BBC show by suggesting all allegations came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age”.

But Ali ignored that remark from Burley, and said: “Look, our focus is making sure we fix the foundations. We inherited a mess –”

“We’re talking about Waspi women, let’s stay on topic minister please,” Burley cut in.

“It means the £30bn in terms of the triple lock –” Ali said.

“I’m not talking about the triple lock, I’m talking about Waspi women!” Burley replied.

Burley then pointed out that back in 2019, Labour promised a £58bn packet of compensation for the group – but now there’s no money on the table at all.

Ali replied: “If you look at the ombudsman report, it’s very clear that nine out of 10 women it would not have made a difference in terms of the letters being received, and the focus is on how we use public money, and we don’t believe up to £10bn would be a proportionate response.”

The pair then spoke over each other repeatedly, as Burley insisted: “Society is built on the shoulders of those women!”

The presenter emphasised how multiple ministers, including Keir Starmer, had shown their support for the Waspi women in recent years.

She added: “Can you understand why people don’t believe a word you say?”

Ali repeated that “lessons needed to learnt”, and that the government has apologised, but she needs to focus on the living standards of pensioners.

Burley continued to quote from the ministers who have shown their support for Waspi women in the past, and said: “You thought you were going to get their vote and you probably did because you promised them you were going to give them this money.

“And now you’ve pulled this money from under them. How can that possibly be acceptable?”