War widows’ fury at compensation snub
WAR widows have made a heartfelt plea to the nation after the Treasury refused to pay compensation to 200 forgotten women.
In a campaign backed by The Daily Express, the War Widows’ Association (WWA) is fighting to reinstate pensions for those who lost the payout because they remarried.
They were told in March the Government was looking at resolving the “historic injustice” by making an ex gratia payment.
But Treasury Chief Secretary Steve Barclay has now ruled it out, saying a monetary settlement would create a “precedent risk”.
WWA chairwoman Moira Kane has launched a drive to get the “dreadful” decision overturned.
She said: “I’m so angry. They are making second-class citizens out of a few people whose husbands just died at the wrong time.”
Her open letter to the Treasury and “all interested parties” says: “We do not accept that this is the final word concerning our campaign and we will continue to battle for what we think is the just and correct moral outcome.
“These ladies should never have had their pension removed in the first place, but the country can put this right now by supporting our campaign and showing the Treasury that we care about our military families.
“In their letter they quote parts of the Armed Forces Covenant but appear to ignore the area which mentions special consideration for those who have given the most, ie: the families of those who have given their lives for their country.”
The WWA has called on people to protest to their MPs, the Treasury and the Ministry of Defence. The scandal emerged after ex-premier David Cameron changed the law in 2015, ensuring widows’ pensions – worth up to £7,500 a year – were for life.
But he failed to backdate it and around 300 women who remarried before that date were excluded.
In a ridiculous anomaly, surviving women would be eligible for the money if they divorced their partner and remarried him
The WWA’s letter comes days after its president, Baroness
Fookes, asked work and pensions minister Baroness Stedman-Scott in the House of Lords to “find a way forward other than by using the name ‘pension’, which I understand frightens the life out of the Treasury”. Baroness Stedman-Scott replied: “To be asked not to frighten the Treasury is quite a challenge – I will think about that one for now.” The minister added: “I understand my noble friend’s points and I will do my best.”