Andrew Dismore

Dear Editor,

Cllr Cornelius, Conservative leader of  Barnet Council, has shown just how out of touch he is by suggesting that the average person in the street would think it was fair to cut £45,000 from Mapledown School. (Times 27/3/14)  He was banking on your  readers not seeing the heart rending account on your front page  of  what this means for the families of some of the  most  disabled children in the Borough, and of course for the kids themselves. Caring for a disabled child is difficult and expensive at the best of times, and the Conservatives have just made it worse.

Even more extraordinary is the comment of Cllr Thompsone, who blames central Government cuts in their grants to the Council. Perhaps he has overlooked that it is his own party  that has imposed those cuts, but that does not explain Barnet Conservatives’ election gimmick decision to cut the Council Tax by just 27p per week at band D. That gimmick comes at a price- and that price is going to be paid  by the disabled kids of Mapledown school.

Yes, savings always have to be sought and inefficiency rooted out, but there are limits that any decent person would say was going too far.

I challenge Cllr Cornelius to come with me to any Barnet high street of his choice and we can then ask people in that  street which they prefer: support for Mapledown  school kids or keeping the small fraction of a penny from  that 27p that would be needed to reverse his cut to the children .  I think I know what the good and generous people of Barnet would  say- and I suspect the overwhelming majority of your readers do too.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Dismore