OTLEY'S MP is demanding justice for a war widow whose pension was stopped when she remarried.

Susan Rimmer lost her first husband, Private James Lee, in July, 1972 when he was serving with the 1st Battalion the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in Northern Ireland.

Pte Lee, who grew up in Otley, died when a bomb planted by Republican terrorists exploded underneath the armoured vehicle he was travelling in near Crossmaglen, in South Armagh. He was 25.

His widow, Susan, was only 19 at the time and six months pregnant.

The war widow pension she began receiving helped her raise their daughter, Donna-Marie, but it was stopped seven years later when she re-married – to David Rimmer – in 1979.

Under complicated Government rules related to the dates of 'end of service' and remarrying, her pension cannot be reinstated unless her current husband dies or they divorce.

MP Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds North West) has attacked the ruling as a "gross injustice", and has now raised Mrs Rimmer's case in the House of Commons as an example of a wider problem.

Speaking afterwards, he said: "We have an obligation to support the families of our servicewomen and men.

"It is therefore a very strange anomaly where a widow who remarried before 1973 or after 2005 can rightly keep her pension, but not if she married during that time period.

"This is not fair, not right, and I would urge ministers to take a serious look at this situation.

"Susan Rimmer’s case is particularly poignant. Just nine months after being married to James at Otley Parish Church, she was burying him at the same church, and James never saw the daughter Susan would then give birth to.

"It is nonsensical the Government expects Susan to divorce David if she wants her pension back.

"The whole situation is a gross injustice for Susan and many others around the country like her. Ministers must urgently act and correct this injustice."

Mrs Rimmer is hopeful the MP's campaign will yield a positive result for her and other women in the same situation.

She said: "Every one of us who has lost our husbands are all in the same boat, whether they were lieutenants, privates or sergeants – we should all be treated with respect.

"There are a few of us who haven't got our pensions and it doesn't seem fair to say to some you can have it and to others you can't.

"It is an injustice – it shouldn't depend on the dates we've lost our husbands or remarried.

"This needs to be sorted out because, unfortunately, there are going to be other widows in the future."

The Leader of the House of Commons, Chris Grayling MP, said he "took on board" Mr Mulholland's points and will be raising them with the Secretary of State for Defence.

Mrs Rimmer, now a grandmother, was presented with an Elizabeth Cross medal in 2010 in recognition of Pte Lee's sacrifice.

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