Good afternoon folks, Following the events of Wednesday 22nd March the citizens of London returned as soon as was humanly possible and the police crime scene tape would allow, to the routine business of continuing their daily lives. They continue to walk the length of Westminster bridge and travel the underground on their way to work, they welcome tourists as they fly in from all around the world and they refuse to be cowed by terrorists. The House of Commons went from lock down to business as usual with every seat filled on Thursday the 23rd as MPs took the opportunity to pay their respects to the fallen. The Met didn't just return to work – they never stood down; they continue to don their stab vests and face the prospect of further terrorist attacks, attacks from disturbed individuals that know not what they do, the mentally deranged that care not what they do and from the purely evil. Resilience is not confined to the capital with people throughout the nation refusing to hide inside their homes and officers from every force turning up for duty each day in order to protect them. I have no idea how many officers are aware of these remarks delivered by Mike Penning in his role as Policing Minister and continually echoed by the Home Office – I think that they should hear what he had to say: “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 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……” Mike Penning The price of a widow's pension should not be measured in the level of violence visited upon her husband and whether or not he paid the ultimate price. My greatest frustration lies in coverage that we are receiving, questions being asked in the House of Commons and the House of Lords on our behalf, and a general misunderstanding of what we have achieved so far and what we continue to fight for. We welcome the coverage, the support and the questions but our campaign was never solely about the survivors of officers killed on duty. Our objective is for all police widows to receive lifelong pensions. My briefing document is an overview of our campaign: if you have a supportive MP, PCC or CC – if you have the opportunity to appear in the media on the radio of TV – please contact me for a copy; it is vitally important that our message when it is heard is the correct one. CathrynHall@outlook.com On March 22nd retired officers turning on the TV will have been reminded of the service that they gave to their communities, the dangers that they faced and in many cases the injuries that they sustained as a result of their duties. A close friend of mine speaks without malice about the time she was taken to hospital to have her eyelids reattached having been assaulted on duty. As the result of a further attack she now walks with a stick, and the injuries that she sustained resulted in her medical retirement from the force. It angers me that the government seeks to compartmentalise officers based upon their level of suffering, where they serve or the fact that they didn't join the armed forces instead of the police (with some officers of course having done both) and the fact that they didn't die - as Colin used to say - “With their boots on.” This is all part of the government's game of smoke and mirrors designed to confuse the issue - it's actually all about the money. AS promised on 29th March Mick Hume PFEW met for a second time with Mr Nazir Afzal CEO of Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to exchange notes regarding our campaign. They will meet again in May, by that time Mr Afzal will have contacted all of his membership and in the meantime Mick will be information gathering and pushing the campaign in Scotland alongside widower Jim Igoe. Obviously some Conservative PCCs may need more persuasion than their colleagues, as they are likely to be influenced more directly by the policing minister and the party line with regard to our campaign. If you have not yet contacted your PCC please consider doing so as personal stories are so important. These are the PCCs that have not been contacted or have not yet replied: Kathryn Holloway (Con) Bedfordshire Jason Ablewhite (Con) Cambridgeshire Hardyal Dhindsa (Lab) Derbyshire Roger Hirst (Con) Essex Martin Surl (Ind) Gloucestershire Jeff Cuthbert (Lab) Gwent Michael Lane (Con) Hampshire Matthew Scott (Con) Kent Jane Kennedy (Lab) Merseyside Lorne Green (Con) Norfolk Julia Mulligan (Con) North Yorkshire Stephen Mold (Con) Northamptonshire Paddy Tipping (Lab) Nottinghamshire Matthew Ellis (Con) Staffordshire Tim Passmore (Con) Suffolk David Munro (Con) Surrey Katy Bourne (Con) Sussex Anthony Stansfield (Con) Thames Valley Mark Burns-Williamson (Lab) West Yorkshire PCC Lord Willie Bach of Leicestershire needs reminding (politely) that our campaign is not about one individual but all police widows. Many thanks everyone for your continuing support. Cathryn CathrynHall@outlook.com