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Camden New Journal - COMMENT
Published: 21 June 2007

Bright ideas of the politicians often end up as nightmares

THE vision of a better and brighter tomorrow is always laid out before the public whenever politicians and civil servants set out to close homes for the mentally ill or the physically disabled.
In the 1980s mental homes in the UK were closed in their hundreds on the grounds that the patients would be better off living in the community.
But the politicians didn’t project how much this would cost. Result: patients were never given the necessary help in the community. Today, this policy of the 1980s is now seen by sociologists and some free-thinking politicians for what it is – a failure. But all too late for many who ended up living on their own – and whose lives spiralled downwards.
In the late 1990s we campaigned against a council plan to close down the Wellesley Road home for the elderly and, thankfully, won. Today, the home thrives and continues to serve the community.
One of its illustrious patients recently was the veteran Camden councillor Roy Shaw.
For some reason politicians develop a blindspot when it comes to what they see as the peripheral fringes of council expenditure – that is, libraries, youth clubs, homes for the elderly or the disabled.
Today, another centre for the disabled is about to close (See page 14).
Recently, the Jamestown centre for the mentally ill was shut down.
In an interview with the New Journal on Monday about the planned closure of the Kentish Town Project, Labour councillor Julian Fulbrook said that apart from being a politician he was also a ‘human being”.
He said: “If people were your family you’d fight like crazy” – against, for instance, the demise of the project.
If only all politicians shared the same humanity and commonsense.

The pack is growing after Pass ‘dogs’ threat

THE cry of anger by Illtyd Harrington in this newspaper last week against threatening noises by London councils to wind down the Freedom Pass has obviously struck a chord.
Within days support for the New Journal’s campaign has come from a wide circle – ordinary people, many elderly who benefit from the Freedom Pass, have contacted us as well as writers and artists .
Yesterday (Wednesday) a demonstration was held outside City Hall.
The cry was simple: Hands off the Freedom Pass!
Iltydd put it more bluntly. He said he would set the ‘dogs’ on the enemy.
Let’s hope the whiff of anger will make the opponents of the pass think again.

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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