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The soft victims
CAN the politicians please make up their minds?
Do they want to help the voluntary arm of society or not? New Labour ministers constantly fill the airwaves with smart one-liners about boosting the voluntary sector.
Chancellor Gordon Brown frequently stresses both the spiritual and utilitarian benefits to society of expanding the realm of the voluntary world.
So, what happens in Camden - just the opposite? To stabilise the budget the new Lib Dem Tory coalition at the Town Hall finds it cannot keep its hands off voluntary bodies in the borough. Like politicians of old they are keen to apply the knife to the soft victims in the hope that the public won't notice what they are up to.
The latest victim is Camden Law Centre, a body that dispenses invaluable advice to the most vulnerable in the borough.
It's part of the world that grew organically out of one of the great acts of social reform spawned by the first post-war Labour government - the creation of Britain's legal aid service.
Tragically, this service has been whittled down by both Tory and New Labour governments since the 1990s, leaving it in a perilous condition.
Now, the Lib Dems and Tories want to hack away at a similar service provided by the Law Centre. It's short-termism at its worst. It will lead to a deepening alienation that feeds cynicism and drives people away from the political process.
Campaign for a school
ONE of the most vociferous public campaigns in years is that led by parents in south Camden aimed at persuading education chiefs Andrew Mennear and John Bryant to abandon their plan to build a new secondary school in Swiss Cottage.
The concise, striking way they presented their arguments at the full council session on Monday, followed by their lobby of Cllr Mennear outside the chamber, appeared to wrong-foot their opponents.
South Camden has been crying out for a secondary school for decades. Basically, their case is unanswerable. If they keep up sustained pressure they may pull off a surprise.
Tough on crime?
CAMPAIGNER Silla Carron was pushing at an open door when she exhorted Home Secretary John Reid to get tougher on crime.
In a long line of New Labour home secretaries he stands out as a minister anxious to ensure that Britain’s prison population remains the highest in Europe – whatever the social consequences.
He is “tough on crime” but ignores the other half of New Labour’s mantra – to be “tough on the causes of crime”.
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