Ok, this brings me from 'some admiration for' to

God-damn Tony Blair, and every other chickenshit miserable little politician and bureaucrat involved in this.
Mrs Hardy is the victim of draconian changes introduced in 2004 by the Labour Government under Tony Blair - the man responsible for waging three wars in six years in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

These changes were not put before Parliament, as they were secondary legislation. Only now - six years later - is the MOD updating leaflets to warn Armed Forces pensioners about its powers to claw back widow's pensions.
...
The rule changes gave the MOD powers to claw back pensions they had promised years ago. Crucially, it was decided benefits were only given if there was proof that the death was caused or hastened by their service.

Previously, benefits were paid unless it could be proved that a condition or death was not caused by their service.

The stricter rules gave the MOD new powers to overturn decisions after the death of the veteran. So even if they'd got attributable benefits before their death, the MOD can reassess the case. Instead of getting 90% of their husband's pension, widows got just half. Confronted with the MOD, widows were powerless to challenge decisions.
And the MOD, in a further display of chickenshit,
Crucially, the MOD failed to update leaflets to tell veterans such as Mr Hardy that these attributable pensions could be taken away from their spouse when they die.

There's just not any really good way to describe what kind of slime these people are.