Women’s Pension group disappointed in MP Kelly Tolhurst’s lack of support

Medway WASPI group (Women Against State Pension Inequality) were left feeling abandoned after Rochester and Strood MP, Kelly Tolhurst, voted down a motion of support for the pressure group alongside other conservative councillors.

The motion brought forward by Labour Councillor Teresa Murray was halted by Medway council on the

grounds that the issue is a national rather than a social concern. This provoked Councillor Vince Maple to call for Ms Tolhurst to step down from an All Party Parliamentary group for WASPI.

Speaking to New Perspectives, Councillor Vince Maple, noted that, “she had chosen to be a member so the fact that she has then voted against publicly the model motion that says we want to see the government doing what they should be doing its extremely disappointing and i don’t think its tenable that she remains a member of the all party parliamentary group.”

He also said that the Conservative Councillors decision to vote down the motion for WASPI on the grounds that it a National and not a local issue was “hypocritical” since they had unanimously voted in favour of a motion in support of the Royal British Legion immediately after.

Responding to Councillor Maple’s attack, Ms Tolhurst responded: “I am very disappointed with the comments from the Medway Labour Party.”

“I fully sympathise with the situation 4,000 local women find themselves in, including my own mother, and I do agree that a fair outcome is important.”

“However, I will never support motions that seek to use local government and its limited time to fight national political agendas.”

WASPI is a pressure group that seeks pension equality for women born between 1950 and 1951 who are thought to have lost out on an estimated £43,000 as a result of changes.

Flick Foreman, spokesperson for the Medway WASPI group said that she was devastated by the lack of support from Ms Tolhurst throughout the process and has joined Medway Labour in calling for her to step down from the APPG for WASPI.

I spoke with Mrs Foreman about how they felt following the motion’s demise.

A petition has since been launched to raise money for a legal challenge against the 1995 and 2011 pensions acts that have affected so many women. So far over £50,000 has been raised.