When ‘cheaper and better’ means stealing from the poor

Published: 8 April, 2010

• THE April 1 New Journal gave stark examples of what the Tory-Liberal Democrat “cheaper and better” really means for the citizens of Camden.
On the one hand we have a “caring” council which stops benefit payments of £1,000 a month to a disabled person. On the other we have some 29 council officers who are paid on average around £10,000 a month. Other “cheaper” examples include the doubling of home care charges and raising the price of community meals by over 25 per cent.
Only last month council officers “postponed indefinitely”  allocation of funding to repair five crumbling primary schools in the poorest parts of the borough in order to spend £23 million on building new schools in the more affluent areas. Tory and Lib Dem councillors try to keep this secret by refusing to publish exact figures on top salaries and preventing deputations to council meetings by those who wish to protest.
What we have had in Camden over the last four years is a sort of reverse Robin Hood; an administration that steals from the poor in order to give to the rich.
LARRAINE REVAH
Aspern Grove, NW3