Good afternoon, As I type I am watching the aftermath of the horrendous terrorist attacks in Brussels being reported on TV, and currently the threat level to the United Kingdom from international terrorism is at Severe - this means that a terrorist attack is highly likely. During a terrorist attack here in the UK unarmed police officers are invariably the first to respond. Below is an excerpt from the latest communication from Policing Minister Mike Penning with regard to our campaign: “I understand that the campaign will continue to seek similar changes to those applied in the Armed Forces. The Government believes that there is a specific justification for allowing all surviving partners of Armed Forces pension scheme members to retain their survivor’s pension for life. The same combination of risk to life of the member does not apply in the case of police officers and so the Government does not believe that it would be justified to make these changes for all police officers. Nevertheless the Government believes that it is right to recognise the risks faced as an everyday part of policing and believes that where officers have died on duty, their surviving spouse/civil partner should not be faced with a decision between a new relationship and retaining entitlement to their survivor benefits.” To come to this conclusion after we have provided the ‘clear, compelling argument’ asked of us many times over is very much at odds with Mr Cameron’s, “modern, compassionate, one nation Conservative Party.” Once again the Government has weighed the service of a police officer against that of a member of the armed forces and found police officers wanting; it is obvious that the combination of the risk to life is comparable and their service of equal importance to the safety of our nation when examined in context. The Government is adamantly traditional in its refusal to grant all police widows pensions for life - they demonstrate no compassion in making us choose between our pensions and lasting future happiness. Northern Ireland is part of our ‘one nation’ and has acceded to requests for lifelong pensions for all of their RUC widows; Mr Penning likes to believe that he was instrumental in the changes. FYI Mr Penning we will continue to campaign for parity with the RUC widows in Northern Ireland – parity with the Armed Forces would involve leaving some of our supporters behind and that would be unacceptable. Our mantra remains as always, “No widow left behind.” I know that the thoughts of all reading this are first and foremost with the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels today - concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others is the true definition of compassion. I think that the last word should go to MP Stephen Crabb: Mr Crabb the new Welfare and Pensions Secretary has been quoted as saying, “Behind every statistic is a human being and perhaps sometimes in government we forget that.” Good for you and well said Mr Crabb - my husband Colin was not a statistic, as a police officer he served his community for 21 years, he was assaulted more than once in the course of his duty and though he wasn't killed - he died on duty, he was a loving husband and proud father. I am not simply a ‘cessation of a widow’s pension’ I am a human being and forever Colin's widow; our daughter Kelly is a living memorial to a daddy that loved her more than life itself. Please stay safe everyone. Cathryn CathrynHall@outlook.com