Elisabeth Wilson said: “After this was raised by voters in Halifax, I was shocked to find out that this has been dragging on since 2001, and the Labour government has refused to implement the recommendations of the Ombudsman.  It has severely effected many people’s retirement. It’s another example of poor regulation of the financial sector.”

Liberal Democrats have taken action in parliament both at Westminster and Brussels as a team effort. Vince Cable MP, Shadow Chancellor, has pushed the case in London with the backing of all the Liberal Democrat MPs.  But in October 2009 the government forced Labour members to vote against the Ombudsman’s recommendations with a three line whip.

Diana Wallis. Liberal Democrat MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, was a key player in writing a report for the European Parliament.  This looked at the failure of Equitable Life in the UK, Germany and Eire.   She said: “The Equitable Life fiasco was an early warning that financial regulation was not right.  But the Labour government hasn’t accepted responsibility.

“People paid into something which wasn’t properly regulated, and they lost a lot of money.”

Elisabeth Wilson has pledged to support the Equitable Life victims’ fight for compensation.