This spisode features an interview with Angela Madden, the Financer Director and Chair of WASPI - the Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign.

In 1995 the John Major government raised state pension age from 60-65 to bring in line with men. In 2011, a new Pensions Act was introduced that shortened the timetable to increase the women's pension age to 65 by two years but also raised the overall pension age to 66 by 2022. Both the 1995 and 2011 changes came as a shock to many, with women discovering that they would have to wait up to six years longer for their state pension, potentially affecting their retirement plans.

In 2015, WASPI was formed by five women to argue for the government to provide transitional payments to women born in the 1950s receiving their pension after the age of 60. They also call for compensation to women who now receive a state pension but had to wait longer.

In March 2024 the Parliamentary Ombudsman (PHSO) ruled that WASPI women should get apology and compensation. The women are still waiting for any compensation and the campaign continues. Find out more at https://www.waspi.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1970s and 80s, 4,689 British haemophiliacs were treated with blood products contaminated with HIV and Hepatitis C. More than half of them have died. At the time, the medication was imported from the US where it was made from the pooled blood plasma of thousands of paid donors, including some in high-risk groups, such as prisoners. If a single donor was infected with a blood-borne virus such as hepatitis or HIV then the whole batch of medication could be contaminated. Official documents presented to the inquiry revealed this therapy was given as part of clinical trials.

Jason Evans is my interviewee on this episode. He is the Director and Founder of the campaigning organisation Factor 8, which is seeking justice for the familes impacted by the scandel. Jsson is also the lead claimant in the Contaminated Blood Products Group Litigation currently before the High Court and a Core Participant in the Infected Blood Public Inquiry. Jason's Father, Jonathan, died when Jason was just four years old, in October 1993. Jonathan was infected with both Hepatitis C and HIV from infected Factor VIII blood products. Growing up without his father, it was during his teenage years that Jason began to understand the circumstances around how his father came to die from AIDS.

You can find out more about the scandel and the campaign here. There is also an excellent TV documentary.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.