In the vote today in the House of Commons, to follow the Ombudsman’s recommendation and compensate the Waspi women, Elaine Stewart, MP for Ayr Carrick and Cumnock, did not vote, resulting in the betrayal of these women, many caring for elderly and vulnerable relatives, minding grandchildren so that their sons and daughters can work in this difficult cost-of-living crisis or seriously unwell themselves.
10 of her Labour colleagues did have the courage to vote. You have to wonder how a volunteer and the treasurer of Doon Valley amateur boxing club could be so chicken.
10 Labour MPs did have the courage to deny Sir Keir Starmer, recipient of £100 000 in gifts in his first few months of office.
Why is this such a betrayal?
The 1995 Conservative Government’s State Pension Act included plans to increase the women’s state pension retirement age from 60 to 65. Because of the way the increases were brought in, women born in the 1950s (on or after 6th April 1950-5th April 1960) 3.8 million women were affected. Significant changes to the age they received their state pension were imposed without appropriate notification.[i]
Many WASPI woman are now looking after elderly relatives and grandchildren, in a way far less common among men of comparable age, as well as experiencing worsening health.
Research from Age UK, found 26% of single older women live in poverty compared to 21% of single older men.[ii] The Mental Health Foundation reported that depression affects around 22% of men and 28% of women aged 65 and over, with 85% reporting no help from the NHS.[iii]
Around 270,000 WASPI women, across the UK, have already died before reaching State Pension Age.[iv] Many more will do the same judging by Labour’s reluctance to commit to any compensation once in government. [v]
[i] https://www.waspi.co.uk/background-information/
[ii] https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:a1d67482-348a-48af-86fb-a92334950473
[iii] https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/statistics/older-people-statistics#:~:text=Depression%20affects%20around%2022%25%20of,at%20all%20from%20the%20NHS
[iv] https://moneyweek.com/personal-finance/pensions/waspi-women-compensation
[v] https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1771838709215707446?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1771838709215707446%7Ctwgr%5Ec3549c678d5ddd048318498b06f2afd0f374c661%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgraemedey.info%2Flabour-ditches-commitment-to-waspi-women%2F
This is now who Stewart is.
New Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Labour MP betrays all she claims to stand for and votes to keep the cruel two child benefit cap and her £91K job
Before the General Election in the local Ayrshire newspapers:
Elaine Stewart, Labour candidate said: “As someone who works daily with children and young people in some of the affected communities, I can assure you that reason I am standing is to ensure that the child poverty is high on the agenda on a daily basis.
“I run food banks and, to be perfectly honest, children and young people should not be eating from this form of support on a daily basis.
“Addressing child poverty in Scotland requires a sustained, collaborative effort across various sectors and levels of government, with active involvement from communities and families affected by poverty.
“If elected, I will ensure one of my missions is to fight hard to bring those statistics down.”
Tonight, shamefully, she voted with all but 7 English Labour MPs, to keep the two-child limit on benefits.
Why is this so important?
Local child poverty rates across the UK correlate very strongly with the percentage of families affected by the two-child benefit cap, research has found, indicating that the controversial policy is a key factor behind children growing up in deprivation.
The study, carried out by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition, will heap pressure on Labour over the party’s refusal to abolish the cap, which limits universal credit and child tax credit to a family’s first two children, if they come into power.
Hypocrisy? Worse than that. Betrayal. Moral decay.
Sources:
https://www.ardrossanherald.com/news/24373391.election-candidates-ayrshires-child-poverty-shame/
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
What you have to understand is that ”election promises ” by Labour candidates are time-limited .
Her esteemed leader shafted all those who voted for him as Supreme Leader of the party and dumped all of his ”pledges” . Elaine has simply followed her master’s example and shafted her constituents .
I mean , how else is she going to advance in The People’s Party if she starts caving in to public pressure and stands by her word ?
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When Elaine Stewart awakes from her stupor perhaps she can digest this below and then ask the Chancellor “What’s Scotland getting and when” ?
Labour UK government future plans and projects and more importantly the locations of these future government plans/projects.
Heathrow expansion – location London.
Also they have backed the expansion of City Airport and Stansted Airport – location around London.
Expand Luton Airport and build an emergency runway at Gatwick Airport will be delivered soon – location London.
Reopen the Doncaster Sheffield Airport, aiming to turn it into a thriving regional hub – location is regional hub in England.
A new partnership between Prologis and Manchester Airport Group will build a new advanced manufacturing and logistics park, resulting in £1bn of investment and 2,000 jobs – location in England.
Build “Europe’s Silicon Valley” between Oxford and Cambridge, with policies aimed at boosting the region’s growth – location in England.
Funding has been confirmed for transport projects, including new services on an East-West Rail line beginning this year – location in England.
Upgrade on the A428 between Milton Keynes and Cambridge -location in England.
Approvals for new towns are expected soon as the government has already received proposals along the rail with 18 submissions for sizeable new developments – last year in September Angela Rayner , the Labour Housing minister, suggested this would be in places near Oxford, Bristol and York – so locations in England.
A new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital will also be prioritised – location England.
The government has approved £7.9bn in investment for water companies to build nine new reservoirs to include one that serves Cambridge, two in Somerset, Hampshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and West Midlands- locations all in England.
Redevelopment of Old Trafford where the Old Trafford scheme is expected to use public money to move three rail freight terminals blocking the redevelopment and the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has promised the scheme will build 5,000 homes and create a second “major football campus” in the city – location in England.
£28m will be invested in Cornish Metals, which provide the raw material for solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles – location in England.
Last year the Labour government pledged nearly £22bn for projects to capture and store carbon emissions from energy, industry and hydrogen production which would create thousands of jobs – location Merseyside and Teesside in England.
Also the same Labour government made a decision last year in August to shelve £800m for the creation of an Exascale supercomputer at Edinburgh University and a further £500m for AI Research Resource, which funds computing power for AI – supercomputer location in Scotland and other AI projects may also have been in Scotland too.
The reasoning given by Labour was that “The government is taking difficult and necessary spending decisions across all departments in the face of billions of pounds of unfunded commitments,” it said in a statement.
“This is essential to restore economic stability and deliver our national mission for growth.”
However the now habitual and very boring mention of the “financial black hole” by Labour politicians, is as a “financial black hole”, not preventing the Labour UK government from investing financially in many future projects in England , but it is apparently making them have to take “difficult and necessary decisions” on projects within Scotland , as only these projects being shelved in Scotland are being shelved as apparently that is “essential to restore economic stability”.
“The mission for growth” seems to be one by the Labour UK government that is mainly for England alone to benefit from and also experience growth from, as so far for Scotland we have only heard that approx 200-300 jobs will created in Aberdeen at GB Energy headquarters according to the Chairman of GB Energy, who is based in Manchester – location also in England too !!
I’m wondering then is it not England who are really at the heart of the new Labour UK government , as it also was with the previous Tory UK government too, while Scotland, Wales and NI are all being left out in the cold as it seems to be that the pecking order within the UK , as far as political parties, UK governments and too the media are concerned , it’s always a case of prioritising England First before any other nation within the UK, if indeed any other nation is even given any consideration at all by various UK governments.
Perhaps Labour UK forget who, as nations, are within the UK state , as they do seem to be acting as if the UK is synonymous with England being the only nation within it !
Liz S
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England gets £100Billion in investment more than Scotland. Pro rata £10Billion a year. Monies which are take out of Scotland and spent in the South. Been going on since 1900 and before. Kept secret under the Official Secrets Act. Thatcher etc. Took the equivalent of £Billions from Scotland. Denied it and kept it secret under the Official Secrets Act. Slightly less likely now because of Devolution.
Accounts published. Still provide information. Whole UK Gov accounts shows how Westminster decisions are wasting £Billion of taxpayers money. Including Brexit. Another non affordable white elephant on the go. Another runway at Heathrow a total waste of monies, unneccessary and will do nothing for ‘growth’. ‘Clutching at straws’.
Closer ties and rejoining the EU would bring the lost growth. Stop the illegal wars would bring growth. Getting rid of Trident and redundant weaponry would bring growth. Trident dumped in Scotland making Scotland unsafe. A burden on the economy.
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