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Older People in Lambeth Betrayed by Labour
April 27, 2010 12:18 PM
Lib Dem Cllr Daphne Marchant was Older Person's Champion until Labour left the post vacant
Labour is now cosying up to older people while frightening them at the same time about how they would suffer under the Liberal Democrats. Such despicable scare-mongering of older and vulnerable people deserves a robust response.
The fact is that Labour would rather emit blood-curdling tall tales about the opposition than allow even a moment's scrutiny of their own miserly actions.
Let's just look at Labour's record on older people over the past four years.
For starters Labour scrapped the Lib Dems Older Person's Champion - the role between 2002-2006 that had been pioneered and run by doughty older person's champion and twice Lambeth Mayor Cllr Daphne Marchant (nee Hayes-Mojon). Daphne even offered to continue in her role for the good of the older community after Labour came to power.
But the plain fact is that older people do not figure much in Labour circles - except at election time of course.
Labour's true colours really came out though when they upped home care charges for the elderly and vulnerable from £7.50 an hour to £17.50 an hour - the highest charges in London. They also voted to restrict the eligibility criteria to 'critical' to filter out many older citizens from even applying. This was one of Labour's first acts after coming to power and, tellingly, after setting their own councillors allowances at an all-time high.
Labour then had the sheer audacity a year to propose lifting even these sky-high home care charges to an astonishing £20 an hour that would have taken them to the highest level of any council in the land. No wonder pensioner's groups were outraged and marched with Lib Dems on the Town Hall. And no wonder Labour councillors sitting on their own huge piles of taxpayer's money shame-facedly relented.
Labour really has nothing to be proud about where older people are concerned. This was a truly shameful attack on the weakest and most vulnerable of our citizens.
Liberal Democrats will counter this appalling Labour tax on age by reducing the charge to below the London average, protect "Freedom Passes" that give mobile older residents a valuable social and cultural lifeline and we will work with the local NHS to improve the health and well-being of all of Lambeth's older people.
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