Veterans Strategy — House of Lords, 2018-11-15
Topic: Mixed Topics
Janet Evelyn Fookes (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I declare two interests, first as president of the Sussex branch of SSAFA and, secondly, as president of the War Widows’ Association of Great Britain. I am particularly proud to be associated with war widows—a gallant group of women who have suffered greatly over the years and whom I frankly regard as a form of veteran. It is their position on which I want to speak in the debate this evening I have heard anecdotally over the years some pretty heart-rending stories from war widows of their difficulties, loneliness and all the kinds of problems that are associated when their lives are suddenly turned upside down by the death of their husband. But recently the War Widows’ Association has engaged on an excellent project to bring together war widows’ stories, with the aid of academics, who have allowed the ladies to tell their story in their own way. This has now been brought together in a marvellous book, War Widows’ Stories. It provides a wonderful fund of knowledge and information which should be of great value to historians of the future and, indeed, to those who are looking at the situation now. It brings home the fact that so often the war widows’ families are largely sidelined in the history of war—collateral damage, shall we call them It is very important that we should have a far greater understanding of the role that they have played and do play in all the conflicts of this century and the centuries before. I believe that one of the Army museums—there may be more than one—has actually taken upon itself the idea of showing the contribution of war widows, and I very much hope that major institutions such as the Imperial War Museum will think that this is a very worthwhile project to be developed. Perhaps I could encourage my noble friend the Minister to take a look at the work that has been done and to talk to the trustees of the museum to see whether this could be introduced in a much more forward way I turn to another issue of great concern. One of the issues which brought the War Widows’ Association into being was the fact that the miserable war pension was taxed by the Inland Revenue. That was what caused the ladies to come together to fight for what they saw as their rights. It took time, but they got it. However, for many years after that, if they cohabited or remarried, they lost their war pension. After some years, this was put right, from 1 April 2015, but it created another anomaly. Those who were affected before 1 April still had that cut-off. The War Widows’ Association is working on this now. Again, I hope I can enlist the aid and encouragement of my noble friend. I suspect that the Ministry of Defence is more sympathetic than the Treasury, which is the department that has to be persuaded. Getting money out of the Treasury is rather like getting blood out of a stone, but I ask my noble friend to try very hard on this subject We do not think there are many—possibly 300—and, of course, they diminish. The longer we leave this, the more they will die and the smaller the problem will become. However, it affects women whose husbands were killed in the first Gulf war, the Falklands War and in Northern Ireland, about which other Members have spoken today. I will quote one lady whose husband was killed in South Armagh in 1973. She said: "Life was lonely as a young woman with a baby and over time I missed my son having a father and the friendship of a husband. After years alone, I was blessed with a second chance of happiness, but felt sad my pension would be withdrawn on remarriage. I felt this action demeaned John’s sacrifice" I fully agree with her, because it is also important to realise that legally the pension is, in fact, compensation for a life lost, and therefore should not be affected by the benefits system. I want to reiterate that—it is extremely important that it is regarded as, and is, compensation, not a normal benefit The military covenant has also been mentioned this evening. I will quote again so that I get it right: "Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether regular or reserve, those who have served in the past and their families"— my emphasis— "should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved" Who else are the bereaved but the war widows and their immediate family I hope that those wonderful words are carried out, because otherwise they are simply words on paper and worth nothing whatever. So I urge my noble friend to look at the possibility of war widows’ stories being celebrated or commemorated far more widely than they are now; to make absolutely certain that those widows are not left behind by this failure to allow them to keep their pensions on remarriage; and perhaps to rename the war widows’ pension as compensation, which is what it legally and truly is. I look to my noble friend to help in all these matters.