More than 200 women have rallied in Fife to fight against state pension injustice.
And it was a call to arms to create more WASPI groups amid fears the issue is slipping “under the radar”.
The event was organised by Labour MP Lesley Laird and featured speakers from WASPI, trade union Unison and Citizens Advice Rights Fife (CARF).
State pension changes have impacted on 3.8 million women across the UK.
The rally at the weekend heard 1,500 women from this age group die in Scotland every year before being able to claim their pension.
Linda Carmichael, WASPI campaigner, said: “We always hear the old chestnut ‘people are living longer’ but the real impact here is quality of life.
“George Osborne said it was the easiest [pension] saving he had ever made.
“What he meant by that was the women of our generation would not object. How wrong he was.”
Changes are estimated to affect around 5,500 women in the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency yet CARF dealt with only four pension-related queries over the past year.
CARF employee Audrey Cunningham warned that, from May 15, further changes are coming.
As there is only one WASPI group in west Fife, locals were encouraged to develop more.
Mrs Laird said: “When I first publicised the event many constituents got in touch to say they wanted to go and we heard many stories of hardship, some of them absolutely heart-breaking.
“Women have worked all their lives, raised children, cared for parents, only to find themselves in some cases having to take extreme measures, such as selling their house, to make ends meet.
“And yet, despite so many women being penalised here, the WASPI campaign has been under the radar for too long in Fife.”
The event aimed to bring women together, provide a support network and kickstart new groups across Fife.
The MP’s office is also offering help to local women who would like help to process a complaint with the Department of Work and Pensions.
Angus councillor Julie Bell, SNP member for Kirriemuir and Dean, has offered to bring together the women in Angus affected by this.
She said: “I’m very much aware of the issues WASPI women are facing – the UK government through DWP and HMRC has behaved despicably and the double whammy facing mixed age couple is horrendous.
“The quality of life for this generation is set to decline out of all proportion to their needs.”
“If any local women, regardless of political views, wish to join a dedicated WASPI group, I’d be happy to bring women together and facilitate a meeting to support women affected to campaign more vigorously on a local basis.”
Ms Bell can be contacted at CllrBell@angus.gov.uk.
In Dundee, the state pension campaign has been led by SNP councillor Anne Rendall, under the Feisty Women banner. It is thought around 8,000 women in the city are affected.
A series of protests and rallies have taken place in Dundee calling for an end to pension discrimination.
A DWP spokesperson said: “The government decided more than 20 years ago that it was going to make the state pension age the same for men and women as a long-overdue move towards gender equality, and this has been clearly communicated.
“People are living longer so we need to raise the age at which all of us can draw a state pension so it is sustainable now and for future generations.”
