Why should widows of servicemen be allowed to continue to claim the Widows Pension, if they re-marry, as is being campaigned for, when other widows cannot ??
My father left a reserved occupation, from which he could not have been conscripted, and served in the Royal Navy during WW11, seeing heavy action in more than one theatre of war. At wars end, he went " down the pits ". and stayed there until forced into early retirement upon the closure/contraction of Scottish coal pits, by Thatcherism. Unfortunately, my Father died suddenly at the age of 64, and my Mum was awarded, rightly, a Coal Miners' Widows Pension. My Mum has never re-married, but if she had/did, she would automatically lose her right to her Widows Pension. What makes a serviceman's widow different from my Mum and thousands of others like her ?? In my opinion, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, and no, I am NOT shouting, preferring to call it; " Expressive Emphasis ".