Remembering ...
11th November 2003
There were a lot more people than usual at the war memorial in the Old Town last Sunday. The Bowling Green was a sea of red poppies and waving banners. I was glad to see them. Remembrance Sunday is always slightly sad for me. As the last post sounds I think of the members of my own family who lost their lives in the Great Wars of the last century. I also think of my first husband, Richard, who died fighting apartheid. But this year I had to add all of those who lost their lives in the war in Iraq. This was a war that I had voted for. It is also one that that has not yet ended.
So, as the banners dropped to the ground, I was in a very sombre frame of mind. Wars are terrible things. No one who has lived through one ever forgets it. I could see that on the faces of the dwindling band of old soldiers standing so upright in front of me. They were lined with sadness as they remembered the brave men and women who gave their tomorrows for our today.
But, as the piper played the first notes of the reveille, the sun come out everyone cheered up. By the time we had laid our wreaths and gone back to Springfield House for a hot cup of tea we were well and truly back in the present. But none of us will ever forget that we owe our lives to those who lost theirs so brutally.
Taxing times
I have been getting a lot of letters about Council Tax. This is not really surprising. Over the past ten years it has risen quite sharply. Pensioners, whose incomes rise far more slowly and in line with prices not earnings, have been particularly hard hit.
The changes made to local government funding in April 2003 are partly to blame. Though they have benefited many needy people in the north of England they have had a negative impact on poorer people and pensioners in the south where property values are far higher. The government is aware of this and in 2007 all properties in England will be re-valued and the owner's liability for Council Tax re-assessed.
However, this could have an adverse effect on those pensioners with high value properties. That is why a recent pamphlet produced by Help the Aged on the impact of Council Tax rates on older people's incomes is so welcome. It contains some extremely sensible suggestions for improving the rate of take up of Council Tax Benefit and for simplifying the currently complex claiming process.
Most importantly though, the pamphlet looks at ways of making Council Tax fairer by relaxing some of the savings rules that restrict Council Tax Benefit eligibility; abolishing the restriction on the maximum amount that can be paid to household in higher banded properties and, by increasing the difference between the amount paid by those in cheaper properties relative to those in more expensive ones.
Finally, Help the Aged suggest ways of making Council Tax rises more gradual and predictable and of ensuring that, after 2007, there are fewer houses in the higher band than there are now. I think that these proposals make a great deal of sense and intend to lobby Ministers about them. Meanwhile, if you are interested, you can get copy of the pamphlet from Help the Aged at 207-221, Pentonville Road, London N1 9UZ or view it on line at www.helptheaged.org.uk
Changing the guard
Excitement amongst Westminster Tories reached fever pitch on Monday just before the new Shadow Cabinet was announced. It even spilled over into the august ante rooms of Buckingham Palace where MP s and their spouses were attending the Queen’s annual Parliamentary reception. As we waited in the Throne room to shake hands with Her Majesty and Prince Philip the excited chatter became a roar as the hopefuls and the hopeless speculated who was in and who was out.
I was just glad to see the inside of the Palace at last. It is a truly astonishing building. Very grand, very gilded and very splendid. But the paintings were the best. Huge ones of Kings and Queens, small ones of cattle and cottages and sweeping ones of battles, processions and landscapes. I could have spent hours just looking at them. But the real world called and it was back to Westminster to vote on the Water Bill. More on that next week.
Barbara Follett MP
