INSPIRATIONAL Claire Throssell said she hopes her two murdered sons ‘will be proud’ after she was given a promise from the Prime Minister to change the law to protect children from abusive parents.

Eleven years on from the heartbreaking deaths of Jack and Paul, Claire was welcomed into 10 Downing Street by the PM on Tuesday.

The Chronicle which has steadfastly reported on Claire’s campaign throughout was invited to join the meeting where Sir Keir outlined how he now plans to change the law.

The Downing Street invite came after the decade-long campaign by Claire to ensure her boys left a legacy that no parent should ever have to endure the ordeal she has.

Her boys aged just 12 and nine at the time were killed by their own father after he deliberately started a fire during unsupervised child contact.

His contact had been granted by the family courts because of the presumption that children should have contact with both parents despite Claire disclosing she had suffered domestic abuse at the hands of her husband and her warning that the boys would be unsafe with their father.

Children will be protected from domestic abuse and harm under the plans announced by the government this week to repeal the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989.

The repeal is founded on the clear principle that every child deserves to be safe yet new evidence published this week shows that assuming it’s always in the best interest of a child to have the involvement of both parents can perpetuate abuse.

If parents are thought to be a threat to their child’s safety, involvement in their lives can be restricted, for example through courts ordering supervised contact, involvement limited to written communication, or by ordering that there should be no involvement at all.

The repeal of the presumption of contact will be presented to parliament in the new year, in the Courts Bill.

After successive governments failed to support Claire in her mission, she told the Chronicle she was glad to finally have the backing of the current one.

She said: “It doesn’t feel like a win, because obviously Jack and Paul have died, and so have 65 other children.

“But Tuesday was a day in history, because for generations of children, both now and tomorrow, and long after that, their future will be brighter and safer.

“The government have sent a clear message today that children will be heard, and that their lives do count, they matter, and they will be seen, believed, heard and supported and protected.”

She added that she hoped her children would be proud of her for what she has done and she says she finally feels like she’s been able to keep the promise she made to them 11 years ago.

“I’ve wanted to build a legacy for Jack and Paul, and here it is,” she added.

“Eleven years ago, the government just made Jack and Paul a child A and a child B, later to be child 18 and 19 on reports. They wanted to just put them on a shelf in a file, gathering dust in Whitehall, and it was a battle just to get their names said in Parliament.

“So to not only have them named, but this repeal coming, I hope that they feel proud.

“I’m sure they’re listening, because I said Jack’s name today, and the sun came out. It shone down.

“To have finally delivered the promise now they’re sleeping, is ironic.

“I hope that future generations of children will be able to go to sleep at night and not be frightened, not be scared, and we’ll have a better future.

“Hopefully no other parent will have to do what I did and hold the children in their arms as they die.

“Knowing it’s someone that’s betrayed their trust, tormented them, humiliated them, and then ultimately hurt them.”

She praised the Barnsley community for all their help and said she wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.

“Everyone has been amazing. I genuinely don’t think I’d be standing here today if it wasn’t for them. They’ve helped me through it all.

“They’re the ones that have given me the fight to continue my mission.”

Sir Keir, who embraced Claire upon their meeting in Downing Street on Tuesday, said she was an inspiration and promised to finally remove the presumption of contact from law.

He said: “I have two children, I have no idea how you have the courage to do what you have done.

“I completely admire you. I have to humbly salute your courage you are amazing.

“You have been waiting too long and it shouldn’t have taken this long.

“We are going to do this. We are going to deliver this. It is going to happen. We will take out the presumption of contact.”

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy added: “Claire is simply remarkable.

“Her courage in the face of unimaginable tragedy, her determination to prevent other families from suffering as she has, and her relentless advocacy for children’s safety has been instrumental in bringing about this vital change.

“As we mark this important step forward in the law, I pay tribute to her sons, Jack and Paul, whose memory drives our commitment to ensuring no other child suffers a similar fate.”

CLAIRE’S local MP Marie Tidball said she couldn’t be more proud of her following this week’s news and vowed to continue supporting her until the bill is finally passed.

Marie, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, had promised Claire before she was even elected that she would fight her corner.

And in an emotional meeting in Downing Street on Tuesday, that promise came to fruition.

She said: “I’m incredibly proud of Claire. It’s been a privilege to be part of her journey and to be at this last point where we get this over the last hurdle.

“When we met, I just knew that we were going to be in each other’s lives for some time, making sure that we got to this point and I have to say it’s come much quicker than I feared it would.

“My first question in the Chamber was to Alex Davies-Jones about repealing the presumption of contact.

“My first Prime Minister’s question time, my first Westminster Hall debate, and I think three of the speeches that I’ve made have been about Claire and Jack and Paul.

“Claire has fought this battle for 11 years and we are now at the point where she is changing the law that will benefit and affect a generation of children and young people.”

She added that she won’t stop supporting Claire until presumption has finally been repealed.

“I feel so lucky to have the chance to work alongside her with this and to get where we’ve got to today,” she said.

“And we won’t stop until we see it in the statute book and even then we know that there’ll be more work to do. But today really did feel like a moment in history.”