Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told the Commons that a targeted compensation programme would “not be practical”, with a wider flat-rate scheme costing up to £10.3 billion. Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) has long-campaigned for compensation. He had earlier told MPs “there are legitimate and sincerely held views about whether it was wise to increase the state pension age”, but offering compensation or not was a question of “how changes to the state pension age were communicated”. He said: “We accept that individual letters about changes to the state pension age could have been sent earlier. Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on State Pension Inequality for Women, said: “It is frankly wrong that the Government has once again chosen to reject compensation for the 1950s women affected by state pension age changes.