Barnets Blairite Labour bigwigs fail the people of Barnet on Libraries.

Rog T addressing the Childrens March for Libraries (Pic Don Lyven)

An earthquake has hit British politics. An earthquake that has destroyed New Labour and the legacy of Tony Blair. In what was either the biggest shock ever or the most foregone conclusion in history (depending on when you were putting your money on the contest at Ladbrokes), Jeremy Corbyn has become leader of the Labour party. I was on the Childrens march for Libraries when the news broke. A few of the local Labour party looked disconsolate. Most are fairly hard core Blairites. I have seen more smiles at funerals than the local Labour bigwigs. Locally the party backed Yvette Cooper, who got 17% of the popular vote. I suspect that this is an accurate reflection as to how in touch with local party members they really are. I was slightly disappointed that more Labour councillors weren't marching. None bothered to make a speech in support of the campaign. Given that there were hundreds of people on the march, all of whom are looking for leadership from the Labour group and are looking for some idea of the group strategy in relation to the Tory library proposals. I can write blogs and I can walk on marches, but I have no power in the council chamber. I don't get to see top secret "blue paper" briefings on the subject (except when naughty councillors pop them through the letterbox in unmarked envelopes).

The Conservative group have a strategy and policy towards libraries. Presumably the local Labour group do. Presumably they know whether they support or oppose the Tories proposals. Presumably if they oppose the proposals, they should be telling the hundreds of people who were on the march why and how they will fight it. The Conservatives have a majority of one on the Council. Labour only need to persuade one Tory that the proposals are a bad idea and the policy will fall. Plenty of Tory Councillors seats could become vulnerable if their local libraries are closed down. It is a golden opportunity for Labour. To do this, they should have stood up on the podium and spelled this out. They should have demanded that people lobby their Tory Councillors. They should be leading the fight, but they won't. Why not? Was it because they were too shellshocked by the huge mandate given to Corbyn? Who could possibly say, but it is clear to all and sundry that they are not in the least bit interested in putting themself at the heart of the fight to defend our community.

John Burgess Leading the March

Contrast that with local Unison convenor John Burgess, who is currently standing for the post of General Secretary of Unison. John walked at the front of the march from start to finish and addressed the crowd passionately. We need people like John who can stand up for our community. If the Barnet Blairites, who are clearly happy to take the allowances, but are not prepared to stand up and be counted do not step up to the plate in short order, then surely the reselection committes should give some thought to finding a few councillors who actually reflect the views of the people in the party and the wider community. This lack of empathy with the ordinary man in the street has gone on for far too long.

The hypocrisy of Mike Freer, Matthew Offord and Theresa Villiers on Barnet Library Closures is breathtaking

I saw this article in the Hendon Times yesterday - http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/11830150.Barnet_s_MPs_side_with_Labour_opposition_in_ongoing_libraries_saga/ - where all three of Barnets Tory MP's have come out against Library closures. I cannot believe the hypocrisy of these three chancers in making this announcement. Quite frankly, anyone who is fooled by this Damascene conversion of thes ethree to the cause of preserving Barnets libraries needs to look at the facts.

Back in 2010, shortly after these three chancers were elected, there Tory chums in the Town Hall announced a strategic library review, with statements that libraries were old hat and that people can buy books at Tescos and read them at Starbucks. The Councillor responsible for those comments, Robert Rams, was kicked out of his formerly safe Tory Seat in 2014. I lead the campaign to save Barnets libraries in 2010 and we managed to head off the review. The only library the Council closed was Friern Barnet and this was reopened after a huge campaign.

During the whole 2010 campaign, we had not one word of support from Mike Freer, Matthew Offord or Theresa Villiers. When we ran the Peoples Library on the lawn outside Friern Library and the One Show and BBC News came down, the local MP's gave us the cold shoulder.

What is different this time? Their seats are up for grabs. They are running scared as they saw what the closure of Friern Barnet did to Robert Rams. It must be pointed out that Sarah Sackman, the Labour Finchley and Golders Green PPC and Andrew Dismore, the Hendon PPC were at the forefront of both campaigns. For the record, I am not a Labour Party member and not involved in their campaign. I do however believe that politicians should be judged on their record, not on a few platitudes just before a general election.

If you don't believe me, click on the Save BArnets Libraries tag at the bottom of this page and look at a few of the blogs I wrote at the time. The sad truth is that all of these, but especially Mike Freer who was happy to see Finchley library shut in 2010, are just a bunch of chancers, who are jumping on the bandwagon to save their skins.

Building the library of the future in the London Borough of Barnet?

So Barnet Council are in the process of reviewing their library service. This is the second time in five years that they've done this. The Councillor who is "in charge" of the process is Reuben Thompstone. Oddly "Rubes" as he is lovingly known, seems to have learned nothing from the 2010 debacle. One supposes that this is partly because the last bloke to try it, Robert Rams, got thrown out by the electorate at the last election.

When they tried it ast time, I lead the campaign to save the libraries. This was sparked by crass comments by Robert Rams, such as that people could order books online from Amazon if they wanted one. I immediately realised that Rams knew nothing about what a library was or the type of people who used them. Realising that if I was to do the job properly, I needed to make sure that I wasn't like Rams, totally ignorant of the subject. So the first thing I did was a tour of every library in the Borough. I went at times when I thought they'd be busy and I had a routine. I'd go in and read the paper. Whilst I did this I'd observe the customers and the staff. What immediately struck me was the fact that the libraries all reflected their communities. The customers reflected what was going on. Hendon library, being near Middx Uni had far more students using the space for study. Burnt Oak had a very ethnically diverse custom. Mill Hill had young mums and old ladies. Each library had its own feel and just from watching, I realised that there was far more to what libraries do than simply lending books.

The next thing I did was some research as to what other authorities were doing. I also realised that every council has a different view of what a library service should be. Some value, develop and cherish it, some want shot of it and some, such as Barnet Council are simply clueless. 

By doing my homework, when I addressed councillors and the council, I was able to talk with authority and raise points they hadn't thought of. I realised that the authorities that loved and cherished libraries had empowered communities to build friends groups who raised funds and helped the team of qualified librarians out. They realised that librarians are qualified professional people and that they should be treated as such. Any volunteer services are simply there to extend and improve the services and to help raise funds. My research showed me that good friends groups can raise up to £30,000 a year, which can be ploughed back into the service.

I also realised that there are hundreds of authors in our city, all of whom have books to promote. They are all keen to share their work, so good libraries arrange book readings. Many people enjoy book clubs and what better place to run these than the library? One group I spoke to organised book readings. People would bake cakes to sell and bring wine for the evening, pay aing a few pounds on subs to be a member. Some libraries organise reading based activities for tots, whilst the mums have a chinwag and a coffeee. Others have coffee mornings for pensioners, where councillors would attend and give seminars on local history and environment. This would also allow the councillors to get to know people and their issues. Then there are students. Good library services have special opening hours and study times, in association with local schools. These are promoted as an opportunity for local youths, who have no private study place at home, to do homework in a quiet and studious environment.

Then there is the question of library design. As the needs of library users have changed, so has the design. People like a touch of privacy, so reading areas can be more secluded, not closed off but designed so that you can read in peace. Many modern libraries separate shelves from reading space, so the space can be reused in the evening for events. Good libraries also have good IT services, many run courses for older people to help them become IT literate.Many run other courses, especially English language courses for the many immigrants we have in our community and also foreign language courses for the locals. Some have services to help peoplewrite CV's and some have film nights and even live music.

Perhaps the most interesting thing I saw was libraries that team up with commercial sponsors, who recognise the value in engaging with the community. This helps the company to be recognised as part of the community and the library to pay its bills.

There is also the issue of running costs. Some libraries have gone green. They use solar panels to provide power (libraries are largely open in daylight). Some use other green technologies. All of these make the proposition more sustainable.

Every single one of the the things I've mentioned above, I suggested to councillors in 2010. Sadly they were not interested. Every single one would help us to build a better and more harmonious community. It has been estimated that every hour an adult spends in education or training results in approx 100 times the cost benefit to the economy. If Barnet and the UK wants to be a successful modern nation, we need education and skills at our heart. This can only happen if we recognise the value of our library service.

Guest Post - Update on the Mill Hill Libraries meeting - By Richard Logue

What a great turnout for Wednesday night's meeting on our libraries - almost 200 people - special thanks to authors Deborah Moggach and S.F. Said for their passionate defence of our libraries, and also to Matthew Offord MP, Andrew Dismore AM, Cllr John Hart and of course Mrs. Angry herself, Theresa Musgrove. Of course, most importantly, the near 200 people who came out on a wet and cold night to defend our libraries. 

Lets hope this puts to bed the myth being cobbled by some that no one is too bothered about the future of Barnets Libraries !!!!!

Guest Blog - Defend your local library by Richard Logue

By Richard Logue

Do you want to stop our library from being closed or reduced to a useless rump? Please come along to tonight's (Weds 14th January) meeting at the New Hartley Hall on Flower Lane from 7pm onwards. We need as many people to come as possible to show just how important this issue is to our community.

 

The writers Deborah Moggach and S.F. Said are our special guests, and we will have a panel Q&A session featuring Matthew Offord MP, Andrew Dismore AM, Councillor Sury Khatri and Theresa Musgrove aka Mrs. Angry. We will also be giving advice on how to respond to the council consultation on the future of our libraries. Please come along!

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Richard Logue is chair of the Mill Hill Residents Association. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye.

Barnet Council Libraries restructure - cock up gives the game away

Barnet Council are seemingly addicted to creating highly paid posts for senior managers. They are also rather addicted to not even bothering to read documents before they post them on the internet. Here is a list of all the people who reviewed the document entitled "Minor temporary changes to the Libraries Management structure "


1. Governance Service receive draft report
Name of GO Paul Frost Date 29/5/2012

2. Governance Service cleared draft report as being constitutionally appropriate
Name of GO Paul Frost
Date 29/5/2012

3. Finance clearance obtained  (report author to
complete)
Name of Fin. officer Debbie Edwards
Date 01/05/2012

4. Staff and other resources issues clearance obtained (report author to complete)
Name of Res. officer Veronica McCarroll
Date 12/04/2012

5. Strategic Procurement clearance obtained (report author to complete)
Name of Strategic Procurement officer Lesley Meeks Date 30/03/2012

6. Legal clearance obtained from (report author to complete)
Name of Legal officer Philippa Larbi Date 08/05/2012

7. Policy & Partnerships clearance obtained  (report author to complete)
Name of P&P officer Andrew Nathan Date 30/03/2012

8. Equalities & Diversity clearance obtained
(report author to complete) Name of officer Julie Pal/Andrew Nathan  Date 30/03/2012

9. The above process has been checked and  verified by Director, Head of Service or Deputy
(report author to complete) Name Bill Murphy Date 29/03/2012

10. Signed & dated report, scanned or hard copy  received by Governance Service for publishing
Name of GO Paul Frost  Date 30/5/12

11. Report published by Governance Service to website
Name of GO Paul Frost  Date 30/5/12

Officer reports:
12. Head of Service informed report is published
and can be implemented. Name of GO Paul Frost Date 30/5/12

Now that is a quite impressive reviewers list. Now presumably there is a purpose in each of these people putting their name on this document (and getting paid to put their name on it). One would expect that this would signify that they have actually read the document and were happy to have their name put on it. After all it is being put in the public domain on the internet. One would presume that this signifies a degree of quality control.

Here is the document - http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s4240/1686%20-%20Libraries%20Management%20structure_pubic_Signed.pdf
1686 - Libraries Management Structure_pubic_Signed

Scroll through the document to section - 8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION - read this carefully.
Now have a look at Section 9. LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS

You will see that it says "None" then repeats paragraphs 2 & 3 of section 8.1. It then repeats section 9.

Those of you who are eagle eyed will however notice that before the repeated paragraphs, there is an extra half sentence. We can only guess as to what went wrong, the first half of the document up to this section is electonically formatted, whilst this part is scanned. Even more interesting is that the cock up partially gives the game away about another brand new, highly paid executive job. As we don't see the first half of the sentence, we have to guess, but the second half says "the end of October 2011, and the evaluation placed the role within band 5, scale points 235 (£69,591) to 238 (£73,336), under the Barnet Hays system."

In short, this rogue half sentence tells us that this new post will be paying £69,591 to £73,336 per annum.

What is odd about this is that it contradicts the previous statement in section 5.1 - "Total costs attributable to the proposed changes are evaluated at £33,312.75 for the period April –December 2012".  In other words, section 5.1 indicates that the costs are lower than the actual salaried grade. Also rather interesting is the idea that they can get by with one person doing two jobs until December, but then they need 2 people to do it. Will the workload suddenly double?

All of these things can only be speculated on. So we have a document reviewed by eight different people, with some major errors in. It also contains detail that us poor taxpayers clearly weren't meant to see, and also details the fact that two peoples jobs may be adequately covered by one person. It also says in section 3.2 "Some minor adjustments will be required throughout the service to ‘back-fill’  positions vacated through the proposed management re-organisation.  These are outlined in section 5.  Low level risk exists where these posts cannot be filled." - oddly no talk of back filling posts is mentioned in section 5. The risk management section also fails to detail what these clealry identified risks are. Why? Surely that is the point of a risk management section.

In short a whole team of people have produced a document of appalling quality which does none of the things it says it should and has clearly not been reviewed properly by the people who are paid to review it.

If ever you wondered where our council tax goes, look no further.

Where does the buck for this stop? In my opinion, with Nick Walkley, the CEO who is supposed to ensure people do their job properly. It is clear that he is "too busy" to actually make sure his staff keep the show on the road. I wonder if it occurred to Council Leader Richard Cornelius that if he got rid of some of this bureacracy, he might be able to actually keep Friern Library open? I wonder if he is concerned about what his council actually does at all?

Barnet Council - Strategic Library review - The Barnet Eye verdict

I've had all sorts of media ringing me up and emailing me today for my views on the Barnet Council Strategic Library review. I thought that as I started the petition and you, the public of Barnet have given it magnificent support, I'd share my thoughts with you. I passionately believe that a decent Library service is the sign of a civilised society. I believe that it is no coincidence that the areas in Barnet with worst access to Libraries are the areas with most deprivation. I thought that the campaign would force the local Conservative rulers to look again at the issue. I made a point of targetting wards with Conservative Councillors and popular libraries for stalls. This was a deliberate tactic. I believed that ordinary Conservative voters would desert the party in droves if their library was shut. I didn't start the campaign and stand on street corners week after week to lose the argument or the battle. Whilst collecting signatures was important, even more important was talking to people.

It became clear after the first week, that we'd win the argument. I doubted that we'd win the fight. When we got our first thousand signatures, I knew we had a chance. As they piled up, I realised that the Conservatives would be insane to ignore us. The tone of comments from Robert Rams changed. We started to hear that the changes wouldn't "be the doomsday campaigners were predicting". At this point, I scented victory, but I was nervous. When I read the report on Monday, I was stunned. This was for two reasons. Firstly, the report was excellent. It was well written, balanced and informative. Why should this shock me? I've read hundreds of One Barnet and Future Shape papers. They are all full of crap. This was different. They had actually done the job properly. The only reason can be because they knew it would be in the public eye. The second reason was because it stated clearly that the review recommended retaining the number of libraries. This was far more than I hoped for. There are changes and closures, which clearly are not desirable, but if we take the report at face value, these are mitigated by new, modern libraries being built. Clearly the loss of 9 staff is a huge issue. This has issues for elderly and disabled people who need help. Hardly inclusive. Having said that, in the current climate, every aspect of public service is being chopped. I don't support the cuts, but at least we still have a service to build on.

It is vital that we continue to monitor the situation and hold them to their promises. It is vital that as a community, we work to make sure that the libraries are successful. I don't mean that we should adopt a Cameronite big society attitude and sack staff and replace them with unpaid volunteers. I mean that we should use the service, help our elderly neighbours to use the service and take our young children to instill a love of books. I was asked what my feelings are. If a maniac enters your house and wants to chop your head off, do you feel victorious if you avoid it. Nope, you just feel relieved. If he tries to chop your next door neighbours head off and you grab a few neighbours, and persuade him to stop, how would you feel? You'd feel relieved, but you'd rather the lunatic had never been let loose in the first place.

This is a victory for the wider community in Barnet. Everyone who signed the petition played a part, all of the people who collected signatures. The Barnet Alliance for Public Services, who did most of the work and everyone else who helped. Thank you. It was all of our victory. If I win the lottery tonight, I'll hire the Arts Depot and buy you all a beer, cup of tea or bottle of water. Let's make saving that, the Childrens centres, the support for vulnerable adults and the Sheltered Housing wardens our next campaigns. I am off out to celebrate tonight. We'll have many setbacks, but having spent six months stressing over the campaign, writing endless blogs, sending & answering emails, etc, I really feel like a beer and a nice evening out. Tomorrow the next campaign starts.

Oh yes, I will be asking a question at the Cabinet meeting on the 29th.

Barnet Council - Part 2 : Library Review - The stark demographics of exploding poverty and population

There are many things I expected to see in the Library review. The one thing which I didn't was this. To me this is truly shocking. This tells me that in areas like Mill Hill and Hendon, the infrastructure will not cope. Schools are already chronically oversubscribed, roads are jammed at busy times and the nearest hospitals to the most populous wards are miles away.

What you then notice is how much better served for libraries the richer, less populous parts of the Borough are :-

Ok, so you get the picture. Then we get the truly shocking map. How deprivation in Barnet maps onto the distribution of the Libraries.

There are six dark red bits (where deprivation is at it's worst). Only one of these has a library - Grahame Park. This library is designated for closure, with the possibilty of a new library mooted. Surely we need to get libraries and educational services to these areas if we are ever to have any hope of breaking the cycle of poverty. Does this shock you? It certainly shocks me.

Barnet Council Library review is released - Part 1

Barnet Council have released the strategic library review ahead of next weeks Council meeting. Given that Councillor Robert Rams originally suggested wholesale closure, this represents something of a victory in that the vast majority are being maintained. This shows the power of well organised local campaigns. I said all along that it was vital to ensure that the strength of public feeling in support of the Libraries was known. The public responded in a fantastic manner. The Barnet Tories will doubtless claim otherwise, but why have a review to largely continue doing everything the same? So long as the service is there, we have a platform for the future. That is the victory we have won.

 

 

I am highly worried that Grahame Park and Childs Hill libraries are seemingly for the chop. Strange that these happen to be in opposition wards, when libraries in Tory wards have largely been spared.  I am also "interested" in the proposal to combine Finchley and Church End libraries on a single site.

The full document is here -
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=10225

I will post a full report on this when I understand the implications of the small print. There are clear references to staffing etc, which require a more detailed analysis, but I must thank everyone who has helped with the campaign. It is abundantly clear that this shook the local Council and forced a massive rethink in their policy. If I never do anything useful again, I am pleased to have helped maintain this vital service in a semi recognisable form.

Let that be the lesson of this whole sorry chapter. Finally a word for Councillor Robert Rams. Unlike many of your colleagues, you do seem to have listened following some ridiculous statements to kick this process off. I think that given the fact that you've shown a modicum of common sense. Let's hope that when I've read the whole thing properly we can strip you of your title as Barnet's biggest twat and award it to one of your colleagues instead. watch this space.......

Barnet Libraries : Dunkirk Day - 29th March 2011 - Hendon Town Hall

Keen historians out there remember the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk as one of the finest examples of British inventiveness in the face of impossible odds and impending disaster. The Army was facing wipeout. The response was for the government to get every possible boat it could lay it's hands on, from Dredgers to Thames river boats and pull the army out. Hundreds of thousands of men were evacuated, saving the army from complete destruction. Four years later many of those soldiers went back in the Normandy landings. Had the army been captured, that might have been the end of the war.

In Barnet now, our public services are facing wholesale destruction.  Under the Future shape program, all of the vital services are being outsourced to third party suppliers. The council is undertaking a slash and burn cull of other services such as libraries, museums, childrens centres and support (including Brain injury support). If the Tories get their way, Barnets public services will be in the state Hitler wanted the British army to be.

Us the people have a duty to fight back. The Barnet Eye have officially declared March 29th Barnet Dunkirk Day. This is the date of the cabinet meeting where Rams will announce the results of the Libraries review. Now this blog has established that in the words of Corporal Jones, from Dads Army the Tories "Don't like it up em". We are calling on all local residents who care about libraries, museums, brain injury units, childrens centres and everything else the Tories want to trash to make an effort to show they care. Turn up at the Town Hall (in 1940 army uniforms etc if possible) to show them that the British people have a bit of fight and a bit of spunk. I am heartily sick of these "little Hitlers" throwing their weight around (see video on yesterdays blog), fat plutocratic councillors pontificating about the need for cuts while raking in huge allowances and feasting on free dinners from dodgy businessmen seeking to buy influence.

Like most Barnet residents, all I want is for the people of the Borough to be treated fairly. Ask any resident of a street with CPZ if this is the case with the latest hike. It's our town hall, make your voice heard on the 29th

Save Barnets Libraries - 19th March Library Love in

On 29^th March 2011 Barnet Council’s Cabinet meets to decide the fate of Barnet’s Libraries. 

On 19^th March 2011, Barnet Alliance for Public Services, The Barnet Eye, Barnet Unison and the East Finchley Library Users’ Group are inviting the residents of Barnet to take part in a Library Love-In.

We are encouraging residents to visit their local library on this day, to show the Council how much their library means to them.  They can do this by emulating recent protests in the Isle of Wight and Milton Keynes by taking out their full entitlement of books. The Council collects statistics on library visits and book issues and this will send a quantifiable measure of the love residents have for their library service.

They can also request and fill in a comments card during their visit where they can express their feelings further.

Additionally, on 19^th March, stalls are being organised at East Finchley Library (between 2 and 4 p.m.) and East Barnet Library (between 3 and 5 p.m.) where residents will have a chance to sign the Save Our Libraries petition before it is finally presented to the Council.

They will also be able to add a line to the communal poem “Why I Love My Library”.  Poet Fleur Adcock, OBE, who will be in attendance at East Finchley Library, has written the first line. 

Crime writer Mark Billingham, creator of the character ‘Thorne’ as seen on Sky TV, will join the East Barnet event between 4 and 5 p.m.

Junior residents will be invited to design a “Love Your Library” poster.

Residents who are unable to visit the stalls can still sign the petition online at http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petition/39319/signatures.html

Author Mark Billingham supports the Save Barnets Libraries Campaign

Mark Billingham is a Barnet resident whose best-selling novels include Barnet locations such as Colindale Police Station and The British Newspaper Library. He created the character Detective Inspector Tom Thorne whose exploits have been adapted into the successful Sky One TV series ‘Thorne’ in which the role is played by David Morrisey.

Mark has joined a 1,000 other residents by signing the ‘Save Our Libraries’ petition online. He comments:

Without the use of my local library when I was a kid I would never have discovered books and, put simply, my life would not have been changed for the better. We should fight tooth and nail to keep every library open.

You can join Mark and sign the petition online here:

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petition/39319.html

Local Tory Library supremo, Councillor Robert Rams takes a different view to Mark on Libraries. He stated that people should get books from their local Tescos and that local libraries could be turned into branches of Starbucks. That is what we are up against !

The sad truth about Library closures and social housing

My good friend, Mr Limosky came to see me in the shop yesterday afternoon. In many ways Mr Limosky is like that embarrassing uncle we all have, the one who always says the embarrassing truth, which everyone else is too polite to speak. He's lost many a friend over the years with his harsh comments. A typical example of his tact and diplomacy was when a friend of his was saying how his daughter wanted to become a fashion model. Mr Limosky replied "She hasn't got a chance, she's far too fat". What has Mr Limoskys view of the world got to do with the libraries campaign, you may wonder. Well Mr Limosky isn't a fan of libraries either. He told me that I was wasting my time running the campaign. Now Mr Limosky's job has given me an extraordinary insight into a role I'd not realised the Libraries play in 2011 post Thatcherite Great Britain. What could this be?

Well Mr Limosky is a central heating engineer. He works for companies such as the now defunct Connaught PLC, servicing boilers for victims tenants of social housing in and around North London. Mr Limosky has a little window into the lives of the poor unfortunate people in our area that us wealthy, comfy middle class people never ever see. I suspect the likes of Councillors Coleman and Rams have never ventured into the world of squalour which Mr Limosky regales us with on his visits for coffee and to scrounge cigarettes.

His view of the libraries Campaign? "If they shut the libraries, where will all the OAP's go to read the papers in winter and keep warm? That is the most useful service performed by libraries. If they go, hundreds will either freeze to death through cold or starve to death because they'll have to pay to have their heating on all day". He told me that no one in social housing on a basic pension in North London could afford to keep their heating on in the recent cold snap. His view of Rams suggestion that Libraries could be turned into Starbucks "They won't want a bunch of geriatrics hanging round all day, trying not to freeze to death".

It really is quite depressing. There is a whole subculture of survival which most of us are totally unaware of. It's like free bus passes. This enables OAP's to travel far afield for free. Discount retailers such as Lidl and Aldi can deliver savings on food bills which could for many be the difference between malnutrition and health. Sadly heat and warmth cannot be shopped around for in the same way. If you can't afford to put your heating on, you have to turn it off and find another way to stay warm. Maybe Mr Limosky was being harsh in his analysis of what the Barnet Conservatives are up to "Look, they've got no cash, if they have a good cull of all these dependent geriatrics, they'll save a fortune. They are not stupid you know".

As I said, Mr Limosky's views are not for the faint hearted. Sadly though, I suspect he might have detected a truth about our local council which none of us nicer, politer people would ever possibly say. I've been trying to think of an appropriate question to ask Councillor Robert Rams at the Cabinet meeting on the 29th of March, when they debate the library closure program. I've been struggling to think of one, but I think Mr Limosky has given me the answer.

"During the winter, many elderly people in Barnet visit libraries to keep warm and read the newspapers. Many cannot afford to keep their heating on all day. Please could Councillor Rams detail what plans are in place to ensure these residents do not die of hypothermia. If no contingency plans are in place, can Councillor Rams please detail how much money Barnet Council expects to save from its social welfare budget as a result of them dying"