“So long as they are still fighting, then so will I” – Salford MP to call for urgent financial redress for women born in the 1950s

Salford MP, Rebecca Long Bailey, is set to lead a debate calling for urgent financial redress for women born in the 1950s who suffered pension injustice. 

The Salford MP will lead the debate in the House of Commons today (Thursday 3 July) calling an urgent redress for those who suffered injustice as a result of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) maladministration.

The debate follows the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO) final report, published in March 2024.

The published report found that the DWP failed to properly communicate changes to the State Pension Age legislated in the 1995 Pensions Act.

The failure in communication led to millions of women unprepared for retirement – and the report confirmed that this constituted maladministration and called on Parliament to devise a remedy.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Rebecca Long-Bailey MP said: “The Ombudsman has made clear that maladministration occurred and that redress is needed. The Government must act now.

“These women are not going to go away—and as long as they are still fighting, then so will I. It’s time for Ministers to listen, act, and finally deliver the justice these women have been waiting decades for.”

Campaigners have long argued that women born in the 1950s were left financially and emotionally devastated by these failures.

And many of those have also been forced into debt, poverty, or prolonged ill-health due to the loss of expected pension income. Some have died still waiting for justice.

As the Salford MP continued: “This is not just a debate about pensions—it is about justice, trust in public institutions, and the value we place on the women who helped build our society.

“These women did everything right. They worked, they cared, they contributed—and then they were failed.”

In her speech, which is scheduled to begin at approximately 1pm, Rebecca Long-Bailey MP will urge the Government to accept the Ombudsman’s findings.

And she will also call for the Government to re-engage with campaigners, and bring forward a fair, timely and transparent mechanism for compensation.

During her speech, she will also draw attention to the unprecedented nature of the PHSO’s decision to place the report before Parliament—only the ninth time in its history such a step has been taken.

Residents in Salford will be able to watch her speech from the House of Commons online here.