NORTHERN Ireland based activists have voiced backing for the Justice for War Widows campaign.

As reported recently, Otley war widow Susan Rimmer has been promised a governmental meeting about her case thanks to pressure from MP Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds North West).

Mr Mulholland, with the support of the Wharfedale & Aireborough Observer, has been leading a campaign to get War Widows pensions restored to some 250 women who lost them due to remarrying.

The current rules penalise those who lost their spouses during armed service and then married again between 1973 and 2005

Mrs Rimmer's first husband, Private James Lee, was killed by a terrorist bomb in Northern Ireland in 1972 when she was only 19 and pregnant.

Her pension was stopped when she remarried in 1989 but she has been told, along with others in a similar position, that she would get it back again if her 'current relationship ends'.

Kenny Donaldson from the Innocent Victims United (IVU) group, which has been calling for the injustice to be addressed for years, said he was 'heartened' by the Otley-based campaign.

In an earlier response on behalf of the IVU to the UK Government's position on the issue of War Widow pensions, Mr Donaldson said: "The response from the Ministry Of Defence is total unsatisfactory - it demonstrates no comprehension of the human cost of terrorism.

"The particular comments that 'the pension will be reinstated if their current relationship ends' is shocking and actually quite chilling.

"Effectively what they're saying to widows is: if you want to be able to receive a pension from us and have some reassurance around your financial future then break off your current marriage.

"That is an incredible position to take.

"Widows who remarry do not forget their first husbands, they continue to grieve for them alongside the children who they may have created together, they continue to honour their memory and many are very actively involved in campaigning for justice, truth and accountability."

The Justice for War Widows campaign petition can be signed at change.org/p/ministry-of-defence-justice-for-war-widows .