They just shouldn't be here

I'm 46 years old. I've been to lots of protests over the years. There is a typical rent a crowd look, angry students, shifty looking lefties, wild eye'd Trotskyites. I fit right in (or at least I used to before I got Lazy, old & fat). Last night I attended the lobby of the Barnet Council Cabinet meeting where the decision was made to kill off the borough's residential warden service.

This protest was different. It was the first time for years that I've been one of the youngest people there. I guess the average age was around 30 years older than me. There were old ladies in wheelchairs, old soldiers, glamourous grannies. Someone asked if my mum was in a sheltered flat. I replied that sadly she'd passed away last year. She hadn't been. She was lucky enough to have had enough cash to pay for carers and had a big enough family to provide around the clock support as she faded. She lived in her own flat until the day she died, albiet with meals on wheels & an evening meal provided by us or one of my siblings. That is the avantage of having 6 children. As a result of her decline, through strokes and falls, I became aware of the challenges of caring for the Elderly. Exactly 10 years ago, my mum and her then partner were on a six week cruise up the Amazon River. By the time she died, she couldn't even go down the road without help. If her meals on wheels were late, she would have a panic attack. Sometimes she'd have a fall as a result. I cannot recall how many times the phone would go and I'd just hear heavy breathing. I'd not wait for her to try and compose herself, I'd just sprint up the 8 houses, let myself in and sort out the problem. Sometimes it was because a lightbulb had gone. Sometimes it was because there was a fly in the room. Sometimes it was for reasons that I won't tell you, because she was my mum and I respect her dignity. Sometimes it was because she had to go to hospital. I am pleased to say that the longest she had to lie in agony was a mere 45 minutes, when she fell and broke her hip. She'd forgotton to wear her lifeline. As I nipped in every evening at 6pm, she knew she'd not have to wait too long.

I wonder if Council Leader Mike Freer, Deputy Leader Lynn Hillan and the rest of the cabinet, have any idea, how stressful the vulnerable find even the smallest change. I suspect that a massive change such as losing a resident warden will prove too much for many. As I watched the debate proceed, I saw fear and dread in the eyes of Barnet's elderly. The Borough of Barnet has a duty of care to these people. They have paid taxes all of their lives and lived through times of hardship to build this prosperous country. The council's policy is cruel. A huge majority of those consulted rejected it. Did our Council cabinet listen? Nope.

I looked at the assembled crowd, some frail, some sprightly. I felt intense sadness, tinged with anger. I know, from the experience of my mother, what the effect will be. There was only one thing I could say about the whole sorry sight.

They just shouldn't be here. They should be at home, safe, sound and secure. They should be enjoying their twighlight years. Society owes the older generation a huge debt. It seems that Mike Freer, Lynn Hillan & friends wish to default on it