Good evening folks, Since my last update I have had a few meetings that may be of interest; on September 1st I had occasion to visit West Midlands Police Headquarters Lloyd House and I took the opportunity to carry out some campaign business whilst there. I spoke to ACC Alex Murray regarding the campaign and he expressed a personal interest as sadly his cousin was killed on duty; he agreed to pass a letter from me to Chief Constable Dave Thompson I also managed to secure a meeting with PCC David Jamieson that afternoon – he was happy to pledge his support but annoyingly he had no knowledge of the APCC consultation. The majority of PCCs have now been contacted by team members in response to my update of August 7th in preparation for the promised consultation. I contacted Andy Tremayne, Senior Policy Manager at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and he assured me that Work Lead Ron Hogg still intends to write to the membership as part of a consultation process; Andy promised to push forward and arrange a meeting between PCC Hogg and Mick Hume from PFEW. Mick has been on leave and since his return he has been engaged with the Fed's 'Protect the Protectors' campaign, this will culminate with the second reading of Chris Bryant's Bill on Friday. Once this week is over Mick hopes to pick up speed and concentrate on our campaign. Mr Hogg was recently invited to a lunch at a conference attended by the Fed, and Mick hoped to raise our campaign with him but Mr Hogg couldn't make it on that date. The APCC  meet on the 19th and I emailed Andy and asked if our campaign is on the agenda - I have not received a reply. On October 5th I met with WMP Chief Constable Dave Thompson and I asked if he had received my letter; I emailed CC Thompson when he was first appointed as WMP Chief Constable - he supported our campaign in principle and could understand the advantage of having a lifelong pension. Not the most edifying reply I have ever received. When we spoke he said that he supported our campaign and asked me what I would like him to do – so I told him. I told him that we needed to be someone's priority, that as a senior member of the police family he needed alongside his colleagues, to tell the government that they will not tolerate the most vulnerable members of the police family being treated so badly. I spoke to him about a police widow that has contemplated suicide as the prospect of a solitary old age is often too much to bear. I related to him the case history of a police widow of 75 and her partner of 80 years; they live 100 miles apart and cannot afford to relocate. She cannot afford to surrender her pension as she feels that she may require social care at some point ; she is proud that due to her police widow's pension and a pension earned in her own right, she will be able to pay for that care without having to rely on the state. This couple are asking nothing more than to spend their twilight years together; this would cost the government, the tax payer and the treasury not one penny more than her widow's pension does now. I pointed out that a grand total of 5 WMP widows have had our pensions withdrawn and one of those has already been reinstated. And I explained to Mr Thompson that in a police pensions evaluation of 2012 the number of cessations across all forces was described as 'immaterial' and futher research into the figures was deemed unnecessary, ergo the government's claims that new pension schemes have been 'costed' to include lifelong survivors' pensions is simply not true. As a result of our conversation CC Thompson promised to get their pension lead to examine the figures, “to see what we are dealing with.” He was going to include the details in a letter; when I saw him the following day he said the letter was written - it is now the 16th and it still hasn't arrived. As promised DUP wrote to the policing minister and received the obligatory copy and paste reply; they have promised to pursue matters. They are co sponsors of a new EDM - EDM 242 that has attracted 20 signatures to date. https://www.parliament.uk/edm/2017-19/242 I received an email from a campaign team member last week and she described our current position as 'being up against a brick wall' and I don't disagree, but the only way to respond when faced with a brick wall that you are unable to scale is to chip away at the mortar between the bricks that you can reach. Rest assured that I for one will continue to chip away as long as I am able. Best wishes, Cathryn