Killing Off the Elderly

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Thatcher's Britain We read many headline stories about old people brutally battered to death by thugs.

Why would the press not print the story of the 80year old woman who was found a week after she died falling onto her cold stone floor while trying to light her electric fire with a box of matches? That same week she had been refused admission to Longworth geriatric hospital — because the Tories are closing it Last winter tens of thousands of people died as a result of government policies in this country.

Yet hardly a word has been said about this "genocide" by the main trade union and labour movement organisations.

There have been no TUC marches, nO strikes; nobody seems particularly concerned.

Last winter 46,243 people over 65 died in December compared to 33,002 in June 1982, a difference of 13,241 people.

Most of them died either directly from the cold or from cold-related illnesses bronchitis, pneumonia or heart conditions where the heart couldn't cope with the extra strain of losing body heat.

ITV's 'World in Action' (Monday January 17) gave a devastating breakdown of how this happens to what must count as one of the most oppressed sections of capitalist society, the elderly.

Elderly

The elderly are being hit hardest in every direction by Tory policies.

The cutbacks in housing programmes leave them in cold, damp, delapidated housing; they face cutbacks in welfare and social services, fewer health visitors, social workers, home helps; increases in fares and cutbacks transport services.

Health service beds for geriatric patients have been the first to go and elderly patients have been send home early. Staffing in old people's homes has been cut, homes closed, and charges put up for home helps and meals on wheels. Food bills and heating costs have been soaring.

After much research, the last Labour goverment issued guidelines that 70° Fahrenheit was the temperature day and night.recommended for the elderly in down!

has:

'I am one of thosé who believes that people would like to make their own decision on this sort of thing."

Heating

The heating in Lynda Chalker's department offices is a permanent 76°!

In 1951 6.8 million people were over 65; in 1983 there are almost 10 million.

In 1971 1.8 million were over 75. In 1982/3 the figure is 3.2 million.

The ageing population is creating a problem' for society, as important as unemployment.

How convenient it would be if nearly 13.5 thousand unemployed could die quietly, unobtrusively, in cold weather, with no publicity - their working days over, no more use to society, simply causing lot of unnecessary expense in social security.

What an outcry there would be!

The scale of the indictment of this system, that bases itself on planning for profit, not need, is shown by the neglect and suffering of those who have worked all their lives to build it, and are left to die in the cold.

Women

The great majority of pensioners are women. When socialists and feminists talk of women trapped in the home, few was not allowed to develop further to bring down the Tories.

There are plenty of opportunities to organise similar solidarity action.

Hundreds of important services to the elderly are being cut. Workers must organise to fight these cuts by occupation of hospitals, homes, day centres for the elderly threatened with closure, by organising supporting strike action within the area.

By boycotting work on the administration of charges e.g. on home helps, meals on wheels.

By defending direct works for sheltered housing.

By taking strike action with emergency cover to prevent any further rundown of already skeleton staffing levels, in hospitals, home helps, social worker staffing.

Demands for the care of the elderly flow over into demands for a useful programme of public works that would create new jobs. In every street and district there should be provision of sheltered, centrally heated housing, with a warden and a system of free transport. All over 60 should have a free heating allowance, and be entitled to free meals on wheels and home help services. It is not a lot to offer those who have worked all their lives.

TL no.118 TE:

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s talk of women trapped in the home, few think of the elderly... Lena. Tens old people dying because of government policies. Anne reports