A Labour MP is challenging Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, to ” correct the imbalance ” that allowed up to 9.8 million men to claim free national insurance contributions from the state while 50s born women were stopped from claiming anything.

He is the first MP to raise this issue, disclosed on this blog three years ago, directly with the Secretary of State. See here.

This huge subsidy only came to light when one of my readers ,Myfanwy Opeldus, one of 3.8 million women facing a six year delay to get her pension, got the admission from the ministry through a Freedom of Information request. three years ago.

Originally introduced in the 1980s by Margaret Thatcher and Sir Geoffrey Howe, the former Tory chancellor, to cut down the employment figures. men aged 60 got ” auto credits” – free national insurance payments- towards their state pension if they did not claim unemployment benefit.

Meant to be a temporary measure men could still claim this right up to 2018. Women born in the 1950s were promised to be able to claim this once the coalition government started raising the pension age from 60 to 66 but it was never implemented.

The MP writes : “Recent revisions by the Department for Work and Pensions reveal that 9.8 million men received “auto credits” for pension eligibility—more than double the previously disclosed 4.65 million. This is particularly unsettling in comparison to the six-year pension delay faced by 1950s born women. The lack of transparency surrounding these payments for nearly four decades deepens these concerns. The timing of this disclosure, following a Court of Appeal hearing, underscores the need for prompt action. The substantial “auto credits” provided to men since 1983 to encourage male employment reveal an imbalance requiring correction.”

Mr Russell-Moyle is one of the MPs backing a bid to settle the long running disputed over compensation for the now 3.5 million women ( 300,000 have since died) by holding an alternative dispute resolution, hearing with the government. which is championed by Sir George Howarth, the Labour MP for Knowsley. This solution is being promoted by the CEDAWinLaw People’s Tribunal following a report by the former Australian anti discrimination commissioner, Dr Jocelynne Scutt, which says the UK broke international law by not compensating the women.

It is also a speedy way to resolve the problem compared to WASPI’s solution to get the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Rob Behrens, to recommend compensation which has been mired in delays and disputes for years.

This is the full test of his letter:

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