9. Plaid Cymru Debate: Women against state pension inequality campaign

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:30 pm on 20 March 2019.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 6:30, 20 March 2019

Absolutely, and I can assure you and assure this Chamber that if litigation is commenced, the Counsel General and Welsh Ministers will consider what options are available to us in this Welsh Government to respond. So, I conclude with a very powerful statement made by Philip Alston from the UN, a special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. He said last year that women born in the 1950s have been particularly impacted by an abrupt and poorly phased-in change to the state pension age, so that the impact of the changes is such as to severely penalise those who happen to be on the cusp of retirement.

We will, Llywydd, support the motion in full and oppose amendments 1 and 2. It is the UK Government that has a responsibility towards these women and to put a wrong right; they can do it now, as Mick Antoniw has said, and ensure that women's equality is supported and promoted. And, as David Rees said, that rally I think he attended in Port Talbot last Saturday—they were there to call for our support and for the UK Government to 'give us back our dignity, our self-worth and our lives'. That's what women campaigners are calling for. We back them all the way—Welsh Government and Labour AMs back them here today in support of this motion from Plaid Cymru. [Applause.]