Fury as bereaved Covid families are denied £10,000 payment due to Tory 'inaction'

Tory ministers have been blasted for failing to give families bereaved by Covid a cash payment - despite promising it almost a year ago.

Ministers finally pledged last July to extend Bereavement Support Payment to unmarried couples, if they have children and live together.

Currently only married people can get the benefit - which is worth up to £10,000 for parents who lose their partner before pension age.

The Department for Work and Pensions was forced into the change, set to help around 2,200 bereaved partners a year, by legal defeats dating back to 2018.

But this week ministers said they are still “considering the detail” and aren’t ready to change the law.

More than 50 MPs signed a bid tonight to force action within three months.

Mum-of-four Siobhan McLaughlin, with her children Billy and Rebecca, won a 2018 Supreme Court victory over the policy (PA)

The amendment to the Queen’s Speech accused Boris Johnson ’s government of “ignoring decisions made by courts” and “discriminating” against unmarried families who lose a mum or a dad.

Tory MPs defeated the amendment by 366 votes to 265.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, who led the amendment, said a child loses their mum or dad every 22 minutes - demanded back payments for those left waiting for help.

“The State has decided because their parents are not married, those children must be pushed into poverty,” she told the Commons.

"If we don't uphold the rule of law, how can we ask constituents to do so?"

She told MPs the “destitution of orphan children” has been made worse by the rise in deaths due to Covid.

“Children themselves have no influence over whether their parents are married,” she added.

The amendment also slammed Tory ministers for failing to fix the Bedroom Tax - 14 months after the European Court of Human Rights agreed it discriminated against domestic violence victims.

It said: “There has been ample time for the Government to address those rulings.

“If the Government ignores the decisions made by courts on the rights of UK citizens this undermines the integrity of the judicial and democratic process.”

Carrie Symonds would have been hit by the delay if Boris Johnson had died of Covid (Downing Street)

Spouses or civil partners who lose their partner before pension age can claim a Bereavement Support Payment.

For those with children it is worth up to £3,500, plus £350 a month for 18 months.

But couples have long had to be married or in a civil partnership to qualify.

In 2018 the Supreme Court found the marriage rule breached human rights in old-style Widowed Parent's Allowance.

The High Court then also struck down the marriage rule in its replacement, Bereavement Support Payment, in February 2020.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to extending Widowed Parents Allowance and Bereavement Support Payments to cohabiting couples with children and we understand how vital this support is to families. We are carefully considering the detail and implementation which we will outline in due course.”