An unmarried mother has won a landmark UK Supreme Court case which could allow her to claim a Widowed Parent’s Allowance (WPA) even though she was never married. Siobhan McLaughlin from County Antrim, had lived with her partner for 23 years, with whom she had four children, and after his death she was denied money that her children would have been entitled to had she been married. The Supreme Court Justices found that the legislation which governs the WPA was incompatible with human rights law, as it “precludes any entitlement to WPA by a surviving unmarried partner”. The Supreme Court by itself cannot change the law but it puts pressure on the UK’s legislatures to do so to ensure that it is human rights compliant, according to the Court’s understanding of those rights.

Reacting to the news on Thursday, Ms McLaughlin described the judgment as “just surreal”.

“It is just fantastic for all those children that have been recognised now,” she said. “It wasn’t ever about me, it was always to do with the parent’s allowance part of it.” When asked what it meant for people “in her position”, Ms McLaughlin replied: “Hopefully they will recognise that they are just as worthy as children born into wedlock.”