Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaigners protested in the public gallery in Parliament on October 29 as, yet again, the Tory budget ignored the plight of women facing financial hardship due to pension delays.

Labour MPs stood and clapped to show their support for WASPI – a campaign I have long supported. Some 3.9 million women, including 4,000 here in Sunderland, have had their pensions delayed for six years.

We all recognise State Pension age needs to increase, but people need to be given enough notice of any changes to plan for retirement – and this just hasn’t happened in this instance.