It would appear that the ‘clear and compelling argument’ that we were challenged by the Home Office to provide during the course of our campaign - has had an influence upon the dialogue used by the Home Secretary Theresa May, as evidenced in her speech at this year’s PFEW’s annual conference: ‘The death of any police officer is a reminder of the very real dangers you face, day in and day out, as you put yourselves on the line to deal with violent criminals and dangerous situations. Your members strive to keep us and our families safe and take risks so the rest of us can live in peace. So I want to begin by thanking everyone in this hall – and every officer the Police Federation represents – for the dedication and spirit of public service you show in your jobs every day…’ Her words remind me so much of the letters that you and I have painstakingly written to our MPs, the Home Office and the Prime Minister since our campaign began. As you would expect - I was listening in particular for a mention of the proposed changes announced in the Budget with regards to our police survivor pensions, and I wasn’t disappointed: ‘……And where you come to me with serious propositions for the good of policing, I will listen to you, just as I have in the past. You said there was a discrepancy in the way the spouses of police officers killed in the line of duty were treated, and we are taking steps to correct that injustice….’ The promised steps are being taken slowly, but I believe that this to our advantage – it has given us the opportunity to reiterate our message that we will not be satisfied until we have achieved parity with the RUC widows in Northern Ireland. There are newly appointed MPs out there that are for the first time learning about our campaign; some of them have yet to be provided with a desk or an office to put it in – so I think that they may be forgiven for not having ‘hit the ground running’. Never one to miss an opportunity I decided to write to the Prime Minister specifically in the role of campaign coordinator as opposed to that of police survivor. This is the reply dated 20th May 2015 that I received from Mrs T. Simpson the Head of the Direct Communications Unit: ‘Dear Mrs Hall, I am writing on behalf of the Prime Minister to thank you for your letter of 12 May. Your letter is receiving attention and a reply will be sent as soon as possible….’ Now, as those of you that have received replies from the Direct Communications Unit in the past will testify – this is not your ‘bog-standard’ copy and paste response; I find it very encouraging that my letter ‘is receiving attention’ and to be honest the longer I wait for a reply the more convinced I am that it is receiving the attention it truly deserves. Straight forward ‘No’ replies like those of the early days of the campaign, do not require any consideration – just the time to print off a copy, pop it into an envelope and post. Personally if I were a government that was granting the bare minimum of what had been asked for - I would be in a hurry to lay down the necessary legislation, get the changes made and then move on to other more pressing matters. I view the delay as an opportunity for dialogue and written communication, subtle reminders and persuasion. The Conservative party are in all likely hood, still in celebratory mood – the best time to ask for anything is when the potential giver feels good about themselves. Talking of subtle reminders – Phil one of our staunchest supporters, received this in reply to his second letter to the PM: ‘Dear Mr …… I am writing on behalf of the Prime Minister to thank you for contacting him. As I am sure you will appreciate, the Prime Minister receives many pieces of correspondence each week, and whilst he is very much grateful for the time and trouble that people take to write to him, it is simply impossible for him to reply to the vast majority of the correspondence that he receives. I am sorry to learn that you were dissatisfied with this office’s response to your previous correspondence. I hope that you appreciate that the Home Office is placed to respond to the matters you raise, he has asked me to forward your letter to the Department so that they may reply to your concerns directly. Thank you, once again, for writing. Yours sincerely, Correspondence Officer’ Letters from supporters such as Phil with no connections to the police are vital, as the opinion of the tax payer has remained a major preoccupation of the government throughout our campaign. Don’t forget that all updates remain on the petition to the left of the page – ‘newbie’ MPs and campaign supporters alike can update themselves on progress at any given time. We must continue to raise awareness of the campaign and the petition amongst serving officers – the message has yet to reach large numbers of them. The current round of letters continues and some supporters have meetings with their MPs this week. As always my email address for information, copies of correspondence and replies received is CathrynHall@outlook.com Ours has been described as a campaign of ‘quiet determination’- I think that the government are well and truly aware by now, that we will be quietly determined for as long as it takes for our campaign to succeed. Cathryn