Fears Waspi payout could be £10billion bombshell

LABOUR faces demands to come clean about compensation for women hit by state pension age increases, after warnings that payments threaten to blow a £10billion hole in Rachel Reeves's tax-raising Budget.

- BY JONATHAN WALKER

Helen Whately, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "Parliament has been told nothing...three-and-a-half million women are being left in the dark."

The Chancellor's Budget raised taxes by £26billion to pay for welfare spending and to increase "headroom" money set aside for unexpected costs to £22billion.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies had urged Ms Reeves to increase this figure from the previous £10billion.

'The country owed an explanation'

However this may now be affected after ministers agreed to look again at compensating women who say they were treated unfairly in pension age changes.