Andy Burnham Faces Pressure Over Pension Reforms and Compensation

Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing competing demands for state pension reform from advocacy groups and policy think tanks. The campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) is demanding a meeting and a fair settlement for women born in the 1950s who were given inadequate notice of the 1995 law raising the pension age from 60 to 65. While Burnham previously stated that these women "deserve some recompense for the unfairness," a spokesperson later clarified that he accepts the decision to deny compensation is final, maintaining the position of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Simultaneously, the Intergenerational Foundation is urging the government to implement structural changes to the pension system. The think tank proposes scrapping the pension triple lock and capping increases at CPI inflation until 2030-31, with savings redirected toward a Low-Income Pension Supplement for 1.4 million households receiving Pension Credit.

Additionally, the Intergenerational Foundation has called on Burnham and Chancellor John Healey to remove the National Insurance exemption for state pensioners. The group argues that the exemption is difficult to justify as more individuals continue working past pension age with substantial assets.