NARPO held a Drop In event in the House of Commons, sponsored by Kirsty Blackman MP. There were several police widows and a widower who met MP’s to give their personal experiences of how this has affected them.
There was also Graham Cole OBE, who fully supports our campaign and was central in NARPO receiving good media coverage in the Daily Express, ITV, national and local radio. There as also good social media coverage on NARPO Facebook
Our thanks go to all those who attended and to Connect for organising such a successful event
The next steps are to follow up the campaign with MP’s, many of whom attended were going to ask written and oral questions of the Government in the House of Commons and in the House of Lords
Here is the list of those who attended –
- Sponsor: Kirsty Blackman MP (SNP, Aberdeen North) – Chief Whip of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons
- Stuart Anderson MP (Con, South Shropshire)*
- Cllr Steff Aquarone MP (LD, North Norfolk)*
- Lewis Atkinson MP (Lab, Southampton Central)
- Matt Bishop MP (Lab, Forest of Dean)
- Sarah Bool MP (Con, South Northamptonshire)
- Wallace Browne, Baron Browne of Belmont (DUP)
- Bryn Davies, Baron Davies of Brixton (Lab)
- Byron Davies, Baron Davies of Gower (Con)
- Tim Farron MP (LD, Westmorland and Lonsdale) – Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Sir Roger Gale MP (Con, Herne Bay and Sandwich)
- Gill German MP (Lab, Clwyd North)*
- Sarah Green MP (LD, Chesham and Amersham)*
- Ben Lake MP (PC, Ceredigion Preseli)
- Helen Maguire BEM MP (LD, Epsom and Ewell)* – Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Defence
- John McDonnell MP (Ind, Hayes and Harlington)
- Robbie Moore MP (Con, Keighley and Ilkley) – Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Maurice Morrow, Baron Morrow (DUP) – Chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party
- Caroline Nokes MP (Con, Romsey and Southampton North) – Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
- Cpt Ben Obese-Jecty MP (Con, Huntingdon)*
- Jo Platt MP (Lab/Co-op, Leigh)*
- Gary Porter, Baron Porter of Spalding CBE (Con)
- John Slinger MP (Lab, Rugby)
- Lisa Smart MP (LD, Hazel Grove)* – Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Home Affairs
- Rachel Taylor MP (Lab, North Warwickshire and Bedworth)
- Peter Weir, Baron Weir of Ballyholme (DUP)
- Sean Woodcock MP (Lab, Banbury)
(Breakdown by party: Labour Party (including Labour and Co-operative) – 8; Conservative Party – 8; Liberal Democrats – 5; Democratic Unionist Party – 3; Scottish National Party – 1 (sponsor); Plaid Cymru – 1; independent – 1)
Other stakeholder engagement
Stephanie Cunningham, Business and Employment Researcher at the House of Commons Library
Notes
* Denotes those members of Parliament unable to attend in person but represented by their staff.
There will be an article in the May NARPO News and we encourage as many Members as possible to contact their local MP to keep up the campaign momentum and get justice for Widows and Widowers