Pressure on Govt to aid widow

Press, 23 February 1977, Page 9

Pressure on Govt to aid widow

N.Z.P.A. - Reuter. London i i The British Government I was under pressure yester- ' day to help Lady Spencer- i Churchill, the widow of Sir Winston Churchill, who is 1 selling family heirlooms to I meet her living expenses. : Parliamentarians called ; her financial state “a blot on the nation" and the result of ' “a lack of gratitude.” [I News that the 91-year-old r widow of the wartime leader) had already sold some of)] her furniture and intended)' to auction next month five!; family paintings, including ji two works by her husband,)] was revealed on Monday |< night by her grandson, Mr), Winston Churchill. 'i

He said his grandmother’s once-comfortable income had been eroded by inflation, taxation, and falling investment income. She nowrequired persona! nursing. Lady Spencer-Churchill has lived quietly in a rented flat overlooking Hyde Park since Sir Winston's death 12 years ago. Lady Churchill’s only income from the state) has been a pension of £15.30 a i week. Five years ago, an act was passed giving pensions to [widows of former Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and members of Parliament. But the act was not retroactive and Lady Churchill is not entitled to benefit from it.