Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “raising hopes and smashing them” with a series of “broken promises”.
The Tory leader opened PMQs with an attack on the government’s decision not to compensate Waspi women, despite the prime minister previously pledging “rapid justice” for the group.
She then pivoted to the cut to winter fuel payments – though the Conservative was reminded she had previously referred to the benefit as a “dead weight” and called for means-testing it.
Politics Live: PM responds to backlash over Waspi decision
Ms Badenoch said: “For years, the prime minister and his cabinet played politics with the Waspi women and the deputy prime minister (Angela Rayner) said Conservatives were stealing their pensions.
“She promised to compensate them in full. Another broken promise. Now they admit we were right all along.”
The government said on Tuesday that compensating women born in the 1950s affected by an increase to their retirement age would “burden” the taxpayer with a £10.5bn bill.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has since defended the announcement by saying that most women knew it was coming.
Several cabinet ministers and Sir Keir himself have also previously expressed support for the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign group, who have long argued they were not given sufficient warning about the pension age changing.
At PMQs, Ms Badenoch continued her argument by saying there was another group of pensioners whose “trust had been broken” by the government – those who no longer qualify for winter fuel payments.
“The tragic reality this Christmas is…
