Good afternoon all, Sincere apologies for the length of time between updates. Before speaking of the result of the general election and what it could mean for our campaign - let's take a moment to remember the community in and around Grenfell Tower that has been shocked to its core by the loss of at least 80 of its inhabitants - swallowed up by an inferno reminiscent of the horrors of 9/11, and the victims of the 3 latest terrorist attacks that left 30 dead and 116 people injured. We WILL remember them. Although the world in general feels measurably more broken each time I contact you, and the domestic political landscape appears to be founded on ever shifting sands at the moment - we have to attempt to push forward with our campaign in something that resembles an orderly fashion. Unless you have been holidaying on Mars you will know that Mrs May did not achieve her desired parliamentary majority and the Government is now in place thanks to support from the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of what our current Prime Minister has described as our “precious union....... the United Kingdom....." In their part of our “precious union” RUC widows enjoy lifelong pensions. Much has been said in the media regarding the history of the Democratic Unionist Party; the party's history with regard to our campaign is as follows: Jeffrey Donaldson MP for Lagan Valley sponsored Tim Farron's EDM 1063 and a further 4 DUP MPs signed it; Jim Shannon attended Labour MP Madeleine Moon's Adjournment Debate in March and spoke on our behalf. The DUP have secured a £1 billion in funding for the people of Northern Ireland - let's give them the opportunity to do something good for us, something to unite the police family across the UK. If you are the constituent of a DUP MP please contact them to ask what they are prepared to do on our behalf now that they have the ear and undivided attention of the PM. Party leader Mrs Arlene Foster is a member of the police family – her father was a police officer shot by the IRA in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate him. http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/mlas/details.aspx?&aff=2270&per=131&sel=1&ind=0&prv=0 I have sent her an email as one member of the police family to another – I await a reply. I have also emailed MP Nigel Dodds the leader of the DUP at Westminster. His email address is nigel.dodds.mp@parliament.uk As a result of the recent general election we have lost a number of MPs that were supporters of our campaign; if you have gained a new MP please contact them and tell them about our achievements thus far; ask them what they will do to help us achieve our ultimate objective of parity with Northern Ireland and lifelong pensions for all police widows. Remind MPs that have retained their seats that we still require their support. Include a copy of our briefing document with your emails and draw your MP's attention to this paragraph on page 3: “I understand that the campaign will continue to seek similar changes to those applied in the Armed Forces. The Government believes that that there is 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 said this in his role as Policing Minister and the Government are still saying it. Following the Manchester Arena terrorist attack the Government saw fit to draft in armed forces personnel to patrol side-by-side with armed police officers – the armed forces are gone from our streets but the police officers remain - the thin blue line between their communities and those that will stop at nothing to harm them. “The same combination of risk to life of the member does not apply in the case of police officers.........” Really? Mr Penning et al you should be ashamed of yourselves. If you are someone that has benefited from the amendments to the pension rules and thanks to our campaign you no longer have to make the agonising choice between love and your pension, please contact your MP, local and national media to tell them of your dismay that police widows throughout the UK are still not being treated equally. I know that some of you are still in contact with the senior officers of your spouse's force – contact them and let them know that you do not want those of us still overshadowed by the 1987 rules to be forgotten. Email me for the updated briefing document – an overview of our campaign. CathrynHall@outlook.com You may have seen in the news that Nazir Afzal has resigned as CEO of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners. We have no news as yet regarding his successor, but we are ploughing forward to arrange a meeting between their work force lead PCC Ron Hogg and Mick Hume PFEW. We have had some very promising responses from Police and Crime Commissioners willing to support our campaign or at least willing to listen to both sides of the argument – if you haven't yet contacted yours please do so. We now have a new Policing Minister MP Nick Hurd and we need to introduce ourselves! nick.hurd.mp@parliament.uk It may be a good idea to remind the Government that on June 8th they lost some seats or failed to gain others by as little as 21 votes; in 2012 there were 22,000 police widows in receipt of a pension. I have been contacted by campaign members who were third generation Conservative supporters - they voted Labour in the latest general election based purely upon the Government's refusal to grant us parity with Northern Ireland; somewhat ironic considering that the Conservatives are now so reliant on the DUP - part of the Northern Ireland Assembly that granted RUC widows pensions for life. Our votes may be a currency that the Conservatives are willing to squander at their peril. Once more unto the breach dear friends....... Best wishes as always, Cathryn