Britain is no longer a country for and says "Farewell" to an old Celt, born an aristocrat who chose to become a potter, called James Campbell

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James, who has died at the age of 77, was born in the summer of 1942, during the Second World War, in the ancestral home of the aristocratic Clan Campbell, Cawdor Castle on the Moray Firth in Nairnshire, Scotland. He himself belonged to a branch of the Clan based in Pembrokeshire in Wales, the Stackpole Estate having come into their hands by the marriage of the 16th Thane of Cawdor, Sir Alexander Campbell, to the Welsh heiress Elizabeth Lort in 1689.

He was the second son of John Duncan Vaughan Campbell of Cawdor, 5th Earl of  Cawdor of  Castlemartin and Wilma Mairi Vickers, herself the daughter of Vincent Cartwright Vickers, the Director of Vickers Limited and London Assurance. From an early age he would have been familiar with the motto over the crest of the family coat of arms : CANDIDUS CANTABIT MORIENS  'The pure of heart shall sing when dying' and under the shield : BE MINDFUL.

Grandfather Vincent Vickers, who died three years before James was born, was an extraordinary man, who between 1910 and 1919 was a Governor of the Bank of England, while at the same time worked as a humorist and artist who wrote and illustrated a children's book,'The Google Book'. As a boy James would have had his copy of Grandad's book with its illustrations of weird and wonderful birds. Many years later James would refer to his recurrent black bird : "The bird is a frequent presence; it often seems to be searching for something within the landscape, and it is probably me."

Memories of his early childhood, spent either in the ancestral home of Castlemartin in the County of Pembroke, West Wales and of Cawdor Castle left an indelible mark on him and he always counted his blessings for growing up in and being visually stimulated by these two regions of Celtic Britain with their sometimes ferocious landscapes of great lyrical beauty.

Over 60 years later he would write : "I make pots. They are hand built, individual pieces, usually slabbed and coiled, using a red clay from Staffordshire, masked with a white slip. After the first firing I paint on the surface with oxide pigments and underglaze colours, using imagery based on the special places of my childhood, remembered, observed, and still longed for. I was fortunate to be brought up in the North of Scotland and West Wales, two landscapes of great lyrical beauty, which have been a dominant influence, particularly the wild and windswept coastline of South Pembrokeshire. I try to combine form with image, in such a way that they meet as equal partners, in an object with domestic and poetic overtones."


As a boy he found Cawdor Castle "a surprisingly friendly, warm, grey sandstone castle, tucked into the edge of the Big Wood above the Cawdor Burn and looking out to the north over the fertile coastal plain towards Nairn." As a child he lacked the companionship of his sister Caroline, who was 12 years his senior and brother Hugh, who was 10 years older and grew up as a boy who loved nature, solitude and a contemplative existence, who was free to wander and dream amongst the trees, by the river, along the lake or by the sea as his poem revealed :

My heart beats

in a secret place

under the hill

Over my head the rivers run

My people's land

My father's bones

speak to me

through the ground

ploughed by my dreams

He recalled : “In the special and magical places of my childhood in Wales and Scotland, I was always drawing. When I was very small, the images were of aeroplanes; it was 1944 and there was an aerodrome near our house. The landscape began to appear when I was in my teens and away at school in unhappy exile from these sacred havens, which always offered a place to travel inner worlds of dream, joy and peace. The pain of separation and the longing to reconnect have been dominant forces in most of my subsequent work."

The school he referred to was the boys public school of Eton in Berkshire, which may have been part of his unhappy exile, but had the saving grace of bringing him, at the age of 15, under the influence of the British ceramics artist who taught ceramics and sculpture, Gordon Baldwin, who was only ten years his senior. It was under his tutelage that young James had his first experience of making art out of clay and it was Gordon who introduced him to Hans Coper, whose aesthetic Gordon embraced.

He later recalled that Gordon was "probably the most inspiring, intelligent and exciting teacher of that time" who "opened my eyes to the deeply enjoyable and serious business of making pots and making marks on them. It slowly dawned on me that pottery was something that one could do, not just on Saturday afternoons, but for a lifetime." He recalled that his first pots "were initially sculptural, slab built forms."

In 1959 the Royal College of Art, a postgraduate institution, ran a pilot scheme that involved accepting a few students straight from school and James applied and after a brief entrance procedure, gained a place.

When he arrived, the RCA was in a state of transition because the Professor of Ceramics, Robert Baker had left his post to join the Board of the Royal Worcester Porcelain, taking some of his most talented colleagues and students with him. He had handed over to David Douglas, the Marquis of Queensberry, from Crown  Staffordshire, who ushered in was a period favouring one-off, hand-made ceramics alongside the industrial variety.

James now found himself in the company of fellow students David Hockney, Derek Boshier, Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes. In addition, as well as being an unworldly provincial, he was several years junior to his fellow students who, typically, had already completed one or even two art/design courses and in some instances, served two years National Service in the Armed Forces.

James recalled that "it was not an easy time for me. The College was never a teaching school and I missed Gordon's tutorial input." Nevertheless, he was was taught to draw by Dicky Chopping who, in addition to teaching, designed the covers for Ian Fleming's James Bond books and despite his feelings of being overawed in the company of his more assertive contemporaries, James progressed and to his considerable surprise, emerged in 1964 with a first class diploma.

It was the early 1960s, at a time when a degree without a teaching certificate entitled you to become a teacher he secured a post teaching pot making on a foundation course, where students were taught across disciplines, from ceramics to fashion. At the same time, he set up now for his first pottery workshop near Ross-on-Wye and started exhibiting his pots.

After several decades of work with sculptural ceramics, in the early 1980s when he had no access to a workshop, he began a great deal of drawing  : landscape, architecture, people and birds and a move to a new house and the decision to make his own kitchen ware had the practical result of reintroducing him to domestic vessels. He then moved from making the smaller domestic pieces to larger platters and bowls and, as a natural result of the time he had spent drawing, applied his draughtsmanship and colour to these.

He recalled : "When I started making ceramics again – initially utilitarian vessels for my own use – it was not long before imagery started to appear on the pots. I now make pots and drawings, sometimes combined, sometimes not. The imagery still informed by the landscapes of my childhood, remembered and observed.”

"Over the years spent as potter, teacher and draughtsman, I came to love drawing, variously, as a tool for generating ideas about shape, for speculating about form and image, and as a language for putting down images of landscape observed, remembered, and imagined. The pastels and watercolours have developed over time, from sketchbooks full of attempts to capture the poetry of these special places: they are meditations on landscape. Some are closer to the external facts, some closer to the inner world. The bird is a frequent presence; it often seems to be searching for something within the landscape, and it is probably me."

In 1983 he made a 6 week trip to Japan which confirmed his instinct that he was a European potter, not an orientalist and that he should express a European aesthetic in both form and surface. When pressed on specifics about his exposure to Japanese ceramics, he said that the relative looseness and freedom of some Japanese and Korean potters in the making process, were what impressed him and caused him to incorporate this in his making method. Observing potters at work in Tokoname, he realised that he had, without being fully aware, become tight and overly precise. Freedom and flow of movement in form and image were to become the essence of his future work.

"I try to make pots where form and image coexist as equal partners. They are in different languages, and to bring them together into balance is an endlessly fascinating puzzle. A pot decorated with a drawing is something of a paradox. They have different terms of reference and are in different languages, and bringing them together in a way that works is an exciting challenge."


"I try to make the form strong enough in its own right to hold the drawing, to be muscular and even dynamic. Too much movement, however, would make it an incompatible partner, so there is a balance to be struck. The drawing must not overwhelm the shape, but at the same time it must have a content of its own and be more than decoration."

His reputation was such that, in 1998 at the age of 56 and, for three years, he served on the Arts Council of Wales, Art and Crafts Advisory Panel and in 2002 was appointed as a Selector, for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition, National Eisteddfod of Wales.

James had the satisfaction of seeing his work displayed in the in public collections in the Aberdeen and Dundee Art Galleries in Scotland, the National Library and National Museum and Gallery of Wales in Aberystwyth, the Manchester City Art Gallery and in Australia at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and in Japan at the Tokoname Institute of Ceramic Art.

Brexit Britain, divided and diminished, is no longer a country for those old men who will always cherish the belief that its place is in Europe

In this week's General Election. because of Britain's first past the post electoral system, Boris Johnson's Conservative Party polled 44% of the total vote, but gained 56% of the seats in the House of Commons. Parties wanting to leave the European Union polled 47% of the vote and those parties which supported a second referendum polled 51%.

Johnson's victory does not decry from the fact that Britain remains bitterly divided on the question of its relationship with Europe and the election of a Government determined to take the country out of the European Union by the end of January will do nothing heal, but only widen the divisions.

So far in the process, Prime Ministers May and Johnson have refused to seek compromise and find what Queen Elizabeth I called a 'via media,' a 'middle way', for the Church Of England in the bitter religious disputes in the 16th Century. They have done nothing to assuage the fears and elicit the support of those 16,141,241 citizens who voted to remain in the European Union. Their policies have been directed solely at satisfying the 17,410,742 who voted to leave.

As one of the pro-European old men who now find themselves disconsolate and at odds with their country, I can draw solace from the fact that I am in good company and stand alongside the old :

Master of Spy Fiction called John le Carré.
“It is my considered opinion that for Britain and Europe, and for liberal democracy across the entire world as a whole, Britain’s departure from the European Union in the time of Donald Trump, and Britain’s consequent unqualified dependence on the United States in an era when the US is heading straight down the road to institutional racism and neo-fascism, is an unmitigated clusterfuck bar none."

Film Director called Mike Leigh.
"Brexit is the epitome of democracy under threat – indeed, of democracy gone wrong. To end this awful impasse we must have another referendum, one that is not afflicted with the lies and spin of 2016 – the People’s Vote. The spirit of Peterloo must endure."

Prime Minister called Gordon Brown. "Unionism appears to be sleepwalking into oblivion and the United Kingdom – once admired around the world for an understated but comfortably unifying Britishness that was inclusive, outward-looking, tolerant and ultimately pragmatic – now presents an ugly picture : of bitter division, intolerance and introversion so extreme that it has sacrificed common sense in favour of a dogmatic abandonment of its own best interests.'

Film and Theatre Director called Peter Brook.
"I think the folly, for any of us, for all any of us living in Europe and in England is Brexit. It is something so narrow-minded, this old fashion thing that, because we are an island, we mustn't have anything to do with those awful people on the Continent."

Sculptor called Anthony Gormley.
“We all know the EU is inefficient, but most human institutions are inefficient and that doesn’t mean we should not be part of their improvement. I sincerely hope this moment of utter instability and lack of movement just disappears and we get on with making a sounder, safer, more just world because without the help of our neighbours we can’t do it.”

Prime Minister called Tony Blair.
"The debate on Brexit has naturally focused on the economic fall-out. But the political effect of Britain leaving the European Union may be worse. At a stroke, Britain loses its position in the world’s largest commercial market and biggest political union. America loses its foremost ally which has often been a bridge between the two sides of the Alliance."

Novelist called Martin Amis.
"I'm as depressed as my friend Ian McKewan about it. I think a self-inflicted wound and I don't like the kind of nostalgic utopia that was being booted about, that it will return to just the sort of England that I don't like, which is the country town-rustic-beer drinking- family butcher England."

Is Britain, after all these years, finally a country for an old ex-Royal Navy operator called Joe Ousalice ?

Joe, who is 68 years old, was born in 1951 and joined the Royal Navy when he was 24 in 1975. He then served as a radio operator for the next 18 years and was on board MV Myrmidon as part of the task force dispatched to liberate the Falkland Islands after the Argentinean invasion in 1982. After that did six tours of duty in Northern Ireland and he was seconded to a Nato task force and was awarded a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal and three Good Conduct badges.

Twenty-six years ago, when he was 42, he was dismissed from the Service and unceremoniously stripped of his medals. Joe has said : "The Navy wasn't just my job, it was my life. But to do it I had to hide another important part of me, which I did because I loved the navy life so much I didn't want to give it up. But I shouldn't have been asked to choose. I was made to feel like I was disgusting and in the end I was hounded out on some trumped up charges, and told that because I was attracted to men, my 18 years of service counted for nothing. It was heart-breaking. It took me years to recover."

During those 18 years Joe was forced to lead a “double life” and was careful not to associate with other sailors whom he knew were gay. This was a time when the Navy still insisted that gay personnel were not only detrimental to good discipline but also prey to blackmail and servicemen were either disciplined or discharged for homosexuality under military law. It would not be until 2000 that the ban would be lifted, decades after being gay was decriminalised in Britain by the Sexual Offences Act of 1967.

He described his treatment by his superiors while in the Navy "abysmal". "Every couple of years they would drag me in and make some story up in an attempt to get shot of me - they knew I was bisexual. On one occasion they said I had been seen taking drugs in Portsmouth. I've never taken drugs but it shows you the level they'd get up to".

At the 1993, when he was 42 years old, he was accused of being in bed with another sailor, which the Service said was 'prejudicial to good order and naval discipline.' He denied the charge, but was was forced to reveal his sexuality and was discharged from the Navy because he might "corrupt" others.

He recalled that : “After the court martial was completed, a guy came in with a pair of scissors and said ‘Sorry, mate, I need your medal’, and just cut the medal off me. The fact that I had been to the Middle East, to the Falklands, to Northern Ireland six times means a lot to me and that medal is proof to me that I was good enough for all those years, and yet somebody can just come and take it from you.”

Joe's case was taken up by human rights group 'Liberty', which had threatened court action if he was refused the return of the Good Conduct medal. Emma Norton, its 'Head of Legal Casework' and Joe's lawyer, said the Ministry of Defence policy has had a "devastating impact on a lot of lives" and "The MoD discriminated horribly against LGBT members of the armed forces for decades. They subjected people to degrading and intrusive investigations into their private lives, destroying careers and damaging lives."

As a result, the Ministry has said the medal will be returned to Joe in person and added in a statement : "We accept our policy in respect of serving homosexuals in the military was wrong, discriminatory and unjust to the individuals involved" and Joe was "treated in a way that would not be acceptable today and for that, we apologise". 

After waiting 26 years, Joe said he still wanted an apology from "someone in authority" and for his medal to be returned to him by a Rear-Admiral, the same rank of officer who originally awarded him the medal. Needless to say, in Britain in 2019, where living ex-servicemen and women are counted for so little, this would appear to be most unlikely.

Joe : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zX9lyLsPZk

Brexit-fixated Britain is a country where Northern Ireland is no Province for old men seeking protection from elderly abuse

Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four nations which comprise Britain and behind the Welsh, Scots and English. It contains just 2.9% of the total population of Britain and 5.7% of the total area and has a population of 1.8 million.

Northern Ireland has also been without a functioning Executive Government since January 2017, when the two governing parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, split in a bitter row. Although it has figured prominently in Britain's negotiations with the European Union over the question on the 'Northern Ireland Backstop', in fact, in a YouGov poll carried out in the rest of Britain in November indicated Four in 10 of those taking part said they "cared little", or "not at all", about Northern Ireland. A majority would rather have their preferred Brexit outcome than see Northern Ireland stay in the Union, which was true for both Remainers and Leavers.

The men and women of Northern Ireland would have every reason to feel unloved within Great Britain and the old people in Northern Ireland have every reason to feel unloved within their own borders.

Veronica Gray, the Director of the charity 'Action on Elder Abuse. Northern Ireland' has said : "Since the fall of the Assembly we've seen an increased reliance on charities to step in to meet the needs of the people. Our older population bore the brunt of the Troubles, and now they're being failed by the institutions designed to protect them. This cannot continue."

She said that safeguarding provisions for adults in Northern Ireland were "not fit for purpose" and old men and women there have been left "vulnerable to abuse" because of a lack of effective safeguarding legislation and the fact that the Province is the only part of Britain without specific adult protection laws. She said that : "We have legislation to protect children from abuse and animals from cruelty, but with a rapidly ageing population we remain the only part of the UK and Ireland without dedicated laws to protect older people from abuse, harm and exploitation."

She drew attention to :

* the ongoing scandal involving allegations of abuse of patients at Muckamore Abbey Hospital.

* the Dunmurry Manor Care Home which came under scrutiny after a damning report from the Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland, called 'Home Truths', was published in June.

* a 2016 Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland Report which showed old men and women in Northern Ireland were at a higher risk of experiencing financial abuse than elsewhere in Britain.

* the fact that the Report showed that 21% of those over 60 years of age in Northern Ireland have reported being victim to financial abuse which compares with 0.7% of older people across Britain as a whole.

For the British Government, responsible for running Northern Ireland, The Department of Health said: "The Commissioner for Older People recommended the introduction of an adult safeguarding bill for Northern Ireland in his Home Truths Report. We also expect the independent review of events at Dunmurry Manor to be submitting a report to the Department soon, which will consider issues related to adult safeguarding. In response to those reviews we have been and will be considering what urgent steps we can take to strengthen adult safeguarding in Northern Ireland in the absence of a health minister and an assembly."

Eddie Lynch is the Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland whose main role is to safeguard and promote the interests as old people. Sadly, however, old men and women in Northern Ireland, can't rest, assured that whatever Brexit-fixated Government is elected in the General Election next week, their health and well-being will be high on the agenda of their Government based many miles away in Westminster.

Veronica : https://vimeo.com/216562468

Britain is no longer a country for old newspaper editor, John Richards and his 'Apostrophe Protection Society'

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When John, who is 96 years old, was born back in 1923, his English lessons in school when he was growing up in the 1930s, would have placed a heavy emphasis on the correct use of English grammar. This set him in good stead for his working life in journalism, of which he spent about three quarters as a reporter and the remaining quarter as a sub editor. His task as a sub was to prepare reporters' copy for insertion into the paper. This involved tightening the story, changing clumsy phrasing and cutting to length, because each story was fitted into a page rather like a jigsaw.

In addition. an important part, was correcting grammatical errors and, in particular, adding, deleting or moving apostrophes. It constantly amazed John how often reporters, especially the younger ones, seemed to have no idea of the correct use of this very useful little device. He recalled : "I spent most of my time as a reporter and sub-editor, including at The Brighton Argus in the 1960s, and the misuse of apostrophes by reporters was a constant irritation."

In the early years of his retirement, in the 1990s, his irritation at the misuse of the apostrophe grew. Everywhere he went he saw the same mistakes over and over again, until he decided that he could no longer ignore them and, at the age of 78, in 2001, he formed the 'Apostrophe Protection Society' in the hope that he would find half a dozen like-minded people to join him in his cause. At the time he said : "I feel I am a lone voice - although my son agrees with me - but I shall carry on regardless."

Sadly, John has now told us that :
With regret I have to announce that, after some 18 years, I have decided to close the Apostrophe Protection Society.
There are two reasons for this. One is that at 96 I am cutting back on my commitments and the second is that fewer organisations and individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in the English Language.
We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won!
This web site, masterminded by John Hale, will however remain open for a limited time for reference and interest.
John Richards
November 2019

Back in 2001, John, helped by his son Stephen, delivered a polite letter on headed 'Apostrophe Protection Society' notepaper through the door of anyone he found breaking the rules in the town in which he lives, Boston in Lincolnshire. It read :
'Dear Sir or Madam,
Because there seems to be some doubt about the use of the apostrophe we are taking the liberty of drawing your attention to an incorrect use which has been pointed out to us. We would like to emphasise that we do not intend any criticism, but are just reminding you of correct usage should you wish to put right the mistake."

Not everyone took John's intervention in the spirit in which it was intended, although the library agreed to amend its 'CDs' sign. One of the first recipients of John's reminder was a local butcher, whose van has the word 'Carvery's' emblazoned on the side. The owner, said he could not see what all the fuss was about and added : "Sounds to me like this man wants a bleeding job." 

Despite this, the Society grew and John recalled : "I didn't find half a dozen people. Instead, within a month of my plaint appearing in a national newspaper, I received over 500 letters of support, not only from all corners of the United Kingdom, but also from America, Australia, France, Sweden, Hong Kong and Canada!

The paper was 'The Telegraph' with an article entitled :
'Greengrocers' grammar sends a purist bananas' and in which he was reported saying : "It is something that has been irritating me for a long time. I walk around town and see so many misplaced or omitted apostrophes it beggars belief. The local fruiterer sells pounds of banana's, the public library, of all places, had a sign saying CD's - even Tesco was promising 1000's of products at reduced prices."

In addition to letter of support, John received several monetary donations to his cause and the New York Times picked up the story, publishing an item headed Boston Journal : 'Minder of Misplaced Apostrophes Scolds a Town.'

In the same year, 2001, John won an 'Ig Nobel Prize' for 'his efforts to protect, promote, and defend the differences between plural and possessive'.

When John harnessed 21st century tech he said : "Now, thanks to John Hale who designed this website for us, I hope that the word will spread even further" and for a number of years it did. The website contained a list of rules on where to place apostrophes, as well as a photo gallery detailing dozens of examples of misuse and all underwritten by John's belief that : "The little apostrophe deserves our protection. It is indeed a threatened species!"

In 2009 John was back in the news again when Birmingham City Council dropped possessive apostrophes from its road and street signs, so that, for example, 'St Paul's Square' became 'St Pauls.' The decision followed years of debate about whether apostrophes should be restored to local place names such as 'Kings Norton', 'Acocks Green' and 'Druids Heath.' He was quoted s saying : “It’s setting a very bad example because teachers all over Birmingham are teaching their children punctuation. Then they see road signs with apostrophes removed.”

The following year an apostrophe on a town centre sign in Hartlepool stating 'Parking Bay's Suspended', erected in the town while gas works are carried out, saw John quoted as saying : "My reaction is mainly bewilderment mixed with irritation." John asked : "What on earth does the apostrophe mean? Plurals never need an apostrophe. The apostrophe obviously still needs protection."

In 2012 the bookstore, Waterstone's dropped its apostrophe and sparked outrage among some of its customers. James Daunt, the Managing Director, who took over the chain in 2011,  following a change of ownership said : “Waterstones without an apostrophe is, in a digital world of URLs and email addresses, a more versatile and practical spelling." When asked John said : "It's just plain wrong."

In 2013 Mid Devon Council moved to abolish apostrophes from street signs to “avoid potential confusion” and a spokesperson said : “If we didn’t have a clear street name and number policy in place it could lead to inappropriate and confusing street names which could also have adverse consequences in times of emergency.” When asked to comment John said : “It is appalling, disgusting and pointless, they have no regard for the English language. Throughout the area, teachers are doing their best to teach children grammar and the children have the right to say ‘why bother?’ when the Council doesn’t use apostrophes.”

In 2015 he was approached by the ' Dull Men of Great Britain Calendar', an organisation of more than 5,000 members and agreed to star in the new calendar as 'Mr. October.'  John said : “The word ‘dull’ is used only because some people might consider our interests dull or boring. It does not mean we are dull, but just that one aspect of our life might be considered dull by other people.” John was snapped around Boston town ‘looking in horror’ at signs and posters either missing apostrophes or with the apostrophes in the wrong place. In the calendar he rubbed shoulders with a chap who collects traffic cones, another who collects a milk bottles and a man who photographs hedges. John said : “I’ve been very flattered because so many people have emailed me to say that I am not dull. I prefer eccentric. I might sound dull but all I am doing is following a hobby. I think the people who don’t have hobbies are the dull ones.”

John is not done yet and has now said he may start campaigning again , this time to preserve the comma : "The use of the comma is appalling. When I read some newspaper websites they just don't understand what it is used for."

Brexit-obsessed Britain is no country for old men in need of social care

There are nearly 12 million men and women between the the age of 65 and 75 today. Over the next ten years, death will inevitably reduce their number by about 5 million and most of them will be in England and not Scotland, Wales and Northern Island, by virtue of its larger population, but also by virtue of the fact that, if present Government inertia continues, they would have died through lack of social care. Research by Age UK, confirms that at least 74,000 old people in England have died waiting for care between the 2017 and 2019 Brexit-driven general elections. A total of 81 old men and women are needlessly dying every day, equating to three an hour, through want of social care.

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Age UK’s Director, Caroline Abrahams said : “No-one knows how many of these older people, if any, might have lived longer had they received care in time. But at the very least their final days would probably have been more comfortable and their families and friends would have felt better supported. The truth is that our political system has completely failed when it comes to the reform and funding of social care and older and disabled people are being badly let down. This general election is the latest in a long list of opportunities to put things right and we fervently hope that this time it’s different.”

In addition : In the 18 months between the last election and the forthcoming one in December, 1,725,000 unanswered calls for help for care and support will have been made by old people. This, said Age UK , was the equivalent of 2,000 futile appeals a day, or 78 an hour.

Caroline said that "this huge number of requests for help did not lead to any support actually being given for three main reasons " :
Either because the old people died or will die before services were provided.
Or because their local authority had decided that they were not eligible for social care.
Or because their local authority had signposted them to some other kind of help than a care service.

A Government Green Paper is the device to trigger action, but in Bexit-obsessed Britain, none has been produced. Caroline said : “Unfortunately, we have effectively wasted the last 18 months, waiting for the social care green paper that never was. No one knows how many of these older people, if any, might have lived longer had they received care in time, but at the very least their final days would probably have been more comfortable and their families and friends would have felt better supported. Social care is not some kind of nice-to-have optional extra – it’s a fundamental service on which millions of older and disabled people depend every day. It is appalling that one and a half million older people in our country now have some unmet need for care – one in seven of the entire older population.”

Julie Ogley, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), welcomed the Age UK Report, saying : “Social care enables so many of us to get the care and support we need to live good lives and die good deaths. But too many of us continue to struggle to get the care and support we need. These figures show why the next Government must prioritise adult social care. Successive governments have promised, but ultimately failed to deliver, the change we all need. The millions of us who rely on adult social care cannot afford another missed opportunity. That is why we are calling on each of the parties to set out their positive plans for the future of social care.”

'Why call it Social Care when nobody cares ?' : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBck4ZjwefE