DISCRIMINATION against the children of unmarried parents must stop, say organisations backing a grieving Llyn Peninsula father.

Last week the Cambrian News reported that Arwel Pritchard has won the backing of his MP in his fight to secure the same rights for his children as those of a married couple after facing a “huge hurdle” following the death of his partner of 24 years.

Arwel, of Pwllheli, lost his fiancée Donna McClelland, the mother of his two children Cian and Danial, to cancer last May.

He was immediately faced with a barrage of red tape and was refused Bereavement Support Payment because he was not married to Donna, an accountant in Porthmadog.

His case has been picked up by Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts, who has accused the UK government of systematic failings and delaying tactics in the way it supports bereaved families.

Last week, the MP urged the Secretary of State to act on a Supreme Court ruling last summer which afforded an unmarried widowed mother Siobhan McLaughlin the right to access widowed parent’s allowance for her children.

Following Mrs Saville Roberts’ speech in the House of Commons, Alison Penny, director of the Childhood Bereavement Network at the National Children’s Bureau, voiced her support for the MP’s plans.

She said: “In August of last year, the Supreme Court established a principle that bereaved children shouldn’t be disadvantaged because their parents weren’t married.

“Five months on, and the Government still hasn’t acted to right this wrong.

“We urge Parliament to amend the legislation and make unmarried, cohabiting parents eligible for the old Widowed Parent’s Allowance and the new Bereavement Support Payment that replaced it in April 2017, and to clarify the position for the thousands of parents who have been denied these benefits because they weren’t married.

“New research from the British Social Attitudes Survey found that almost half of unmarried couples living together believe they have the same rights as married couples.

“We estimate that every year, over 2,000 families face the double hit of one parent dying, and the other parent realising that they and their children are not eligible for bereavement benefits.

“With cohabiting couples the fastest growing type of family in the UK, the problem will only get worse.

“Each day that the Government drags its feet, another four or five grieving parents and their children will fall foul of this injustice.”

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