The 8th March 2017, also International Women's Day, was the scene of a mass protest by 1950's WASPI women, some with their partners, against the Government's point blank refusal to hear our calls for fair transitional arrangements to compensate us all for our losses of up to £48,000 of stolen state pensions.
I was delighted to be there along with so many others of the "sisterhood" and especially pleased that so many of us were able to travel down from Scotland and the North of England as well as those from as far south as Devon and Cornwall.
Our small group of ladies from Chorley, Lancashire were among the first arrivals in Old Palace Yard and already the atmosphere was truly buzzing as we started chanting "We paid in..you pay out" and "Hey, hey, Theresa May...how many women have you robbed today", enabled by our whistles, clackers, drums, pans and tambourines to make as much noise as possible. Horns were sounded, to roaring applause, by sympathetic truck and van drivers, and no-one could doubt that we were heard! The Welsh contingent then arrived en mass waiving their patriotic flag, to rapturous applause and, I kid you not, I don't think there was a
dry eye in the crowd.
It was, truly, an outstandingly emotional event, as more and more throngs of purple-clad women arrived and joined the group!
Our Twitter hero, Peter Stefanovich, gave a rousing speech, along with the Unison boss Dave Prentis, who promised massive support for our cause, and shortly after the budget reading I spotted Lord Paddy Ashdown merging with the crowd followed very soon after by the wonderful Dennis Skinner MP. I am assured that many more MP's came down to speak to the ladies in the square to offer their assurances of support and the only disappointment was that the media, for reasons unknown, were not allowed to cover our demonstration.
Not to be outdone though, some of us persevered and eventually one of the reporters from Russia Today, came over and did a short video interview. I want to add a big thank you to Mr Afshin Rattansi and Russia Today for their willingness to listen to us. Shame on you LBC and especially BBC1 who left it to BBC Wales to do the reporting! The video is at the bottom of this report.
Shortly after this many of us joined the long queue at St Stephen's Gate to get access the Commons Lobby from where we went on to meet with our local MP's. In our case it was Deputy Speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, who has always been very supportive of the Waspis. It's a shame he doesn't have a voice in the Commons but he has promised to help us in any way he can. Mike Gaskell, Lindsay's Parliamentary Press Secretary, very kindly obtained some tickets for us to visit the gallery of the Chamber and we spent an enjoyable half hour watching the Proceedings before finally setting off, extremely tired, but joyously happy, back to Euston for the two hour journey home.
All in all, a great day! New friendships were created and I for one am looking forward to many more and like all of you will not give up the fight for our rights.
WE PAID IN...YOU PAY OUT!!!
Russia Today with the Waspi's
Here's my own short video - proof that the Waspi's were making lots of noise!
