Good morning everyone, Apologies for the delay I have had to gather rather a lot of feedback before completing this update. On the evening of the 24th of October I thought that all preparations for our trip to lobby our MPs in Parliament on the 26th were complete with the exception of packing our cases - then I had a message from Will Humphries of the Times asking me to write an open letter to Nicola Sturgeon in the same vein as the one I penned to Mrs May; no rest for the wicked. As it transpired the fruits of my considerable labours weren't included in the finished article. For me, John and ‘the pocket-rocket’ Louise our journey began at lunchtime on the 25th; we had been on the road to London for barely 10 minutes when Will rang again to confirm the details for his article. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-widows-who-chose-love-over-money-want-their-pensions-back-pj2fqkj62 As the signal kept dropping out as we travelled along the Toll Road, we stopped at the next available services in order to provide Will with the contact numbers and details that he had requested, and then we were off again. We achieved a personal best by arriving in London 30 minutes earlier than planned and with the car safely parked we set off in a taxi to our home for the night - having not spent a night away from home in the past 15 years this was quite an adventure for me. I must say that our stay at a nearby Travelodge was quite pleasant. The next morning it felt like forever before the taxi arrived to take us back to Westminster - cases stowed in the car we crossed the road and entered Parliament to begin our mission. Off with our coats and with campaign tee shirts now on show, we passed through security. The banner caused quite a stir and I was instructed to unwrap it so that it could be inspected, that being deemed acceptable I then had to open my briefcase so that it too could be searched. “What are you here for today madam?” I turned around and pointed over my shoulder so that the security chappy could read the back of my tee-shirt. At this point I was beginning to think that I must look like a very shady character indeed. The jiffy envelope with the 200 lapel badges could be seen by the x-ray machine but not the contents, the conversation that followed went a bit like this, “What’s inside the envelope madam?” “Lapel badges.” “Can you open the envelope please madam? “ “Certainly.” “Oh, what are they for?” “Our police widows’ pension campaign - we're giving them out to our MPs.” “I’ll have one of those then - ok you can repack your bag now and the best of luck.” With our first lapel badge given out we headed to Westminster Hall to gather the team. This point in the proceedings is always stressful for me; most people can recognise me with my grade 3 buzz-cut and sometimes as a result of the media coverage that the campaign has received from time-to-time. I live in terror of forgetting people’s names or not being able to put the face, name and personal story together and thereby hurting someone’s feelings. Brenda and Maureen greeted me first and having easily recognised them (phew) I came up with an idea - everyone should introduce themselves and then perhaps I wouldn’t appear quite such an idiot and everyone’s feelings would remain unbruised. I feel like the neglectful mother of a large brood of youngsters - I love you all dearly, honestly I do, but my memory for names is awful and when under stress I feel like a bunny in a headlight. Mick Hume representing the Police Federation of England and Wales and Steve Edwards CEO and Ian Potter President of NARPO, all thoughtfully wore name badges. After a quick exchange of greetings and hugs where appropriate, we gathered on the steps inside Westminster Hall for our first group photograph of the day - time for our banner to earn it’s keep. Throughout the day it passed from hand-to-hand like a baby that no-one really wanted responsibility for and a surprisingly heavy one at that. True to her word Plaid Cymru MP Liz-Saville Roberts appeared at 10.30am for our first official meeting of the day. I explained to Liz that we have reached an impasse with regard to what our MPs are prepared/able to do individually on our behalf, and that letters to the Policing Minister and Home Secretary are now being forwarded straight to the Direct Communications Department; as a consequence our arguments are being ignored and this exercise by itself is now futile. We were all determined to leave the day's meetings clear about what our MPs intended to do now on our behalf; Liz agreed to communicate with all of the MPs that were to meet with us during the day and she did so later that evening. She explained to them that we are keen not only for them to sympathize with our plight, but for them to take realistic steps to address it. She asked that they reply by October 31st to let her know whether or not they are willing to support a call for a backbench debate on the issue. Liz has already enlisted the support of the Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales. Next at 11am we met with Labour MP Madeleine Moon - Madeleine feels that the MPs contacted by Liz could put in individually for a 90 minutes debate as well as a request to the Backbench Committee for a debate. Whilst the rest of us met with Mrs Moon, Jim and Audrey met with the SNP’s Patrick Grady MP and he promised that he would work with Liz Saville-Roberts on their behalf. Mr Grady had secured tickets for Jim and Audrey to attend PMQs. Sincere thanks to Audrey as she had agreed to join our endeavours on her birthday. Tim Farron leader of the Liberal Democrats had to cancel his 11am appointment with Jan as a result of the Heathrow by-election, but this was rearranged for later in the day at Portcullis House. He too had provided two tickets for PMQs. According to Jan he was very sympathetic to our cause, wholeheartedly agreeing with our arguments and is going to ask further questions of the Treasury Department and Amber Rudd. He will now follow up with a letter to the Chief Constable and Police Crime Commissioner for Cumbria. Dave managed at one stage to have quite a lengthy discussion about our briefing document with Norman Smith - Assistant Political Editor of the BBC, Lou propelled me across the Central Lobby so that Dave could introduce us. We shook hands and had a few words before I had to dash off to my next meeting - Mr Smith said that he would be in touch. At 12 noon along with roughly half of the group, I left parliament to gallop across to the offices of Mr Nazir Afzal OBE - Mr Afzal is the CEO of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners. In my letter to him I had requested that he meet with ‘us’ and I received a reply from him confirming our meeting. His officer manager Dawn was away on holiday and he said that she would be in touch to arrange a convenient time. As time marched on and I had not received anything further, I telephoned Dawn. Our appointment had been overlooked. However, when I explained the importance of out meeting with Mr Afzal she rearranged some of his appointments to fit us in - I suspect those ‘appointments’ may in fact have been his lunch break. Bless her she had assumed that ‘us’ meant two people at the most and the poor lady almost expired on the spot when 16 of us turned up. We were told that only 2 people would be granted access to Mr Afzal’s office and I decided that Mick Hume as PFEW rep and a serving officer should accompany me into the meeting. Meanwhile unbeknownst to Dawn - Mr Afzal himself had kindly directed the rest of the group to a nearby meeting room. Unfortunately this venue was already booked and our team had to leave the building there being nowhere else to accommodate them; sensibly they contented themselves with posing for photos with our banner on the steps outside and then returning whence they came. Such are the vagaries of our days in Westminster - John who is used to changes that are beyond our control, naturally took the opportunity to get a coffee. Prompted by one of our more forceful ladies NARPO CEO Steve Edwards made a spirited attempt to join the meeting with Mr Afzal, but I thought it best to stick with Mick and myself as office manager Dawn was beginning to look a trifle unwell at this point and our conversation had already begun. Dawn rallied wonderfully and made us a very welcome cup of tea. Mr Afzal had clearly read in detail the briefing document that I sent him prior to our visit, and had obviously done further research as he knew details of our campaign that aren’t in the document. He is fully on board and very little persuasion was involved; he appears to be a really genuine person. I asked that he send a short email regarding what he had offered/agreed to do on our behalf. He shares our concerns at the perceived inequity of the situation and has promised to make PCCs aware of these concerns through the Workforce Lead for PCCs. He thinks we have a very principled position and hopes that PCCs will be able to consider a way forward with ministers. He hopes that raising awareness will lead to a positive outcome. He also promised that we will meet again early in the new year to take stock of any developments. Although it will have been disappointing (and for some I suspect downright annoying) for those not admitted to the meeting, it must be remembered that though I can talk till the cows come home about the strength of feeling amongst our members - a group of 16 gathered in someone’s fairly modest offices illustrates this strength of feeling far better than I ever could. Mr Afzal accepted a lapel pin and was impressed by our campaign tee-shirts - these are the things above all that are likely to remain in his visual memory. Sometimes ‘being there’ is more than enough. John was waiting outside when we emerged from this very successful meeting and together with Mick we trekked back to the Houses of Parliament passing once again through security - though this time without incident. After three bites of a sandwich and a quick cuppa we caught up with the rest of the group - they had been gainfully employed giving out lapel badges and lobbying MPs as they left PMQs at 12.30pm. Brenda had spoken to Richard Graham Conservative MP and he was interested to be updated regarding the campaign - you will remember that Richard secured the all important Adjournment Debate in February 2015 but felt that I should not let, “the perfect be the enemy of the very good.” She also spoke to SNP MP Anne McLaughlin who was interested in our campaign. By now Dave had spoken to Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Tom Watson and Labour’s Gisela Stuart MP, and Conservative MPs Liam Fox and William Rees Mogg. Ms Stuart showed great interest in our briefing document. At 12.50pm Wendy W met with her Conservative MP Sarah Newton who offered to write to the Minister for Policing. She will say that during their meeting Wendy raised several concerns about points in the Hutton report being over-looked or not used for the report's intended purpose. She will also send him a copy of the briefing document and write to Chief Constable Sawyer of Devon and Cornwall. Two meetings with Conservative MPs took place at 1.00pm - Theresa met with MP Robert Buckland and Sharon met with her MP John Stevenson. Robert Buckland undertook to write to the Policing Minister and to raise the issue with the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner of the Wiltshire force. Mr Stevenson was particularly concerned that it is unfair that the survivors of those joining after 2006 get lifelong pensions and that our group is discriminated against. He will write to the PCC and Chief Constable of Cumbria to gain their support. At 1.30pm Patrick Grady MP reappeared to pose for a photo with us as a group. At 2.00pm Barbara and John met with Labour MP Julie Cooper; apparently Mrs Cooper speaks regularly with Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Gunshaw, and will talk to him on our behalf. She has also said that she will liaise with Liz Saville-Roberts and was happy to accept and wear a lapel pin to show support for our campaign. At 2.30pm John, Lou and I had our meeting with Labour MP David Winnick - he will support a request for further debate regarding our campaign. As John and I were waiting for Mr Winnick in the Central Lobby I had a chat with Labour MP Dennis Skinner - naturally we talked about the 1987 police pension regulations regarding remarriage and cohabitation, but Mr Skinner also reminded me of the differences between the police and miner’s pension schemes. Mr Skinner wasn’t as scary as his reputation suggests - in fact not beastly at all…… I had the pleasure of very brief conversations with Linda’s Labour MP and long time campaign supporter Jeremy Lefroy, and Labour MP Holly Lynch. Mr Lefroy has promised to contact the Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mr Matthew Ellis to ask for his support. He asked Linda to contact him just after Christmas so that they can discuss progress and how he can assist us further. As you can see not a moment of our time in Westminster was wasted. As intended we now have in place the makings of a two pronged attack - more proactive responses from within Westminster and the support of the CEO of the APCC whose intention it is to raise awareness of our campaign amongst their membership. I don't think that the day could have gone any better and it was well worth the effort involved. Finally I must thank everyone that turned up on the day. It was smashing to see some of our more seasoned campaigners and a delight to meet some of our newer ones. Onward and upward ladies and gentlemen. Best wishes as always, Cathryn CathrynHall@outlook.com P.S. I had a cracking photo to show you, but for some reason I am once again unable to upload my photographs to the petition.