|
|
 |
| |
Remember Sartre over Freedom Pass
• IT has come to my attention via your letters page that the future of the Freedom Pass may be under threat in Camden for pensioners and disabled people (Ken: ‘Why I’ll defend the Freedom Pass’, Mar 23).
Yes different boroughs have long had different policies regarding allocation of these cost-savers for people on very low incomes.
Nearly 20 years ago, my GP advised me that Camden’s policy on Freedom Pass allocation was the stingiest. Thus although I had a Green Card as a disabled person but no mobility impairment or communication problem, it would be pointless for me to apply for one. If I lived in the borough of Islington, I would be much better off regarding affordable travel
On Jobseekers Allowance for several years, my income has long been less than the basic state pension – a matter which has minimised my financial resources in actively pursuing paid work.
‘Cost-cutters’ have a lot to learn about true ‘efficiency savings’. At a time when public authorities in the UK now have a duty to promote the equality of disabled people under Disability Discrimination Act legislation, Islington Council has cut funding to Camden and Islington PCT-funded jobsearch project St James’s House (SJH) in Camden. The service-users of St James’s House have mental health difficulties, and therefore have rights under the DDA. How, dear cost-cutters, will the loss of a service at SJH and the witnessing of reduced employment prospects advance the mental health and equality of service-users as jobseekers with mental health difficulties? In the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, “Those who give the order seldom see the mess it makes.”
ALAN WHEATLEY
Green Party of England and Wales Disability Spokesperson
Croftdown Road, NW5
|
 |
| |
| |
|
|
|
