Failing Waspis all in a day's work for Labour's lying squad

Another day, another broken Labour promise.

Another day, another broken Labour promise. What else is new?

This time, the party has let down Waspi women by refusing to pay their compensation over changes to the state pension. Many women born in the 1950s planned their retirements at 60, unaware of their ineligibility for another six years, something they say the Government didn’t communicate adequately enough.

You may remember this cause because every Labour politician and their dog championed it to high heaven. For years, the Party promised it would pay compensation if it formed a government; Angela Rayner and Yvette Cooper did endless rounds on television to signal their support.

In 2022, Keir Starmer signed a pledge to rectify this “huge injustice.” Even Liz Kendall, then Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, posed for pictures with the group.

Fast forward to this week, however, and she sang a very different tune. Now, in government, the Work and Pensions Secretary revealed that WASPI women wouldn’t receive a single penny of compensation. Chancellor Rachel Reeves also argued that “it wouldn’t be the best use of taxpayers’ money.”

Of course, she’s right. How can Labour remove the winter fuel payment from many impoverished pensioners to save some £1.5billion while somehow finding £10billion to compensate aggrieved waspi women? That would be deeply unfair.

But let’s not forget that some waspi women are facing a double blow, having been denied their winter fuel payment. And many thousands will be rightly bitter at Labour’s broken promise.

Above all, what I really take issue with is how this matter has been handled.

Most people would be forgiven for thinking that Labour would honour its promise once entering Downing Street. After all, party politicians were happy to bleat on about it for years.

In fact, the moral grandstanding of Labour was so astonishing that support for compensation was virtually unanimous among the party. Everyone from Keir Starmer to Angela Rayner and even Yvette Cooper supported this, consistently and repeatedly. Shouldn’t we be worried that their U-turn came so easily? Not a single Labour politician has resigned over it. Do they have no integrity?

This latest move would be less infuriating if the Government had not spent the last six months lining the pockets of its favoured client groups.

All we have heard about is the mysterious “black hole” in the Government’s coffers, yet that didn’t seem to prevent Labour from giving public-sector workers inflation-busting pay rises. Clearly, train drivers and union bosses won out at the expense of farmers and school students.

And the mad mathematics continues. We apparently can’t afford to keep pensioners warm this winter, but we have enough money to house illegal migrants to the tune of millions of pounds a day. Someone, please make it make sense.

The Government undermined its own case by playing favourites from day one, and that is a legacy they can’t escape.

Will Keir Starmer explain why he was so happy not to rectify this “huge injustice” when he finally returns from his never-ending overseas tour? I don’t think so.

However, what is most concerning about Labour’s abysmal track record is the implications further down the line. What if Labour decides to U-turn on more consequential matters, like defence or healthcare spending?

Who can trust anyone who goes back on their word so quickly?

In the few months since taking office, Labour has broken at least five promises (and counting).

First, Rachel Reeves unveiled the highest tax hike in history after repeatedly berating the Tories for saddling Brits with the highest tax burden since the Second World War. Not only did she go on to beat the Tory's record, but her eye-watering £40billion raid will now leave the average household £770 poorer by the end of Parliament. So much for her “fully costed plans”.

Then Labour promised to cut energy bills by 2030 – a bold but necessary move. After all, we have some of the highest energy prices in the developed world. However, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband thought it was more essential to hit net zero targets. Meaning that people’s energy bills will actually increase by 2030, according to a report by the new energy watchdog commissioned by Miliband himself!

And don’t get me started on Labour’s record with pensioners or farmers.

Whether it’s because of sheer incompetence (David Lammy with the Chagos islands) or because their religious sanctimony doesn’t leave much room for reality, Labour has no problem breaking its word.

How can we have faith in our political system when there are no consequences for blatant lying? Far be it from me to defend the Tories, but we know that if the roles were reversed, Labour would shriek from the top of Ben Nevis at the deception. Why do they feel like they get a pass now?

This latest waspi fiasco is just another in a series of missteps by self-interested, utterly disconnected politicians. Soon enough, the public will punish them for it.