chris walsh
Where is the opposition when we seniors need them
As bad as the Conservative government is towards us (see previous blog) there not only seems to be no opposition from the Labour Party as the main alternative party but where they do have power (in London for example) they are refusing to work in any real partnership ( or in their words co-production) with we seniors to make London and London's recovery age friendly. Here are a couple of examples
In London, free travel for the over 60s and those with a Freedom pass is now limited to after 9.30 am, despite many people needing to get to work on front line jobs and to attend hospital appointments. It does not look like this will change in the near future and in fact even what we have maybe under threat.
The London Recovery Board current plan has practically no reference to older people, does not address key issues that affect older people, including housing and transport, and offers no concrete support or resources to address the problems of increasing unemployment amongst older Londoners, nor of the problems for pedestrians and those with mobility issues .
There is no clear timetable for the introduction of an Age Friendly London action plan, nor commitment over allocation of resources or active partnership with older Londoners in implementing and overseeing such a plan
If you want to see the range of expert and lived experience based proposals we have come up with, go to www.pailondon.org.uk website