As Tim Eustace and Norman Bailey have pointed out in the Letters column, closing down sheltered housing in Colchester and evicting older people from the homes they love are not the actions of anybody concerned with social justice.

A significant proportion of the St Andrew’s ward electorate clearly agrees.

Even well-supported single issue campaigns find it notoriously difficult to gain respectability at the ballot box, so Bobby Hunt’s second place finish – beating Colchester’s biggest political party (the Lib Dems are as responsible for sheltered housing plans as Labour) – really does show the strength of opposition to the council’s sheltered housing cuts.

So, after seeing the comments of the archetypal new Labour man, Tim Young, in the Gazette last week, it was very refreshing to see the comments of Michael Meacher MP at the weekend.

It is heartening values of decency still exist in the Labour Party, even if Tim Young would choose to dismiss them as “hard left”.

Mr Meacher pointed to the publication of the latest Sunday Times Rich List and found the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in the UK had increased during the last three years of recession by £155billion – enough for these people to pay off Britain’s deficit and still have £30billion in change.

Mr Meacher suggested it was even more staggering, that although these 1,000 super-rich contained the bankers and speculators who caused the current mess (encouraged by the deregulatory policies of both Tory and new Labour governments), they were not expected to contribute any tax payback relative to their massive gains.

We need a Labour Party for social justice, not a local new Labour party that is seemingly going to remain a willing accomplice to the Lib Dems’ ideologically driven programme of cuts and privatisation.

Andy Abbott
Colchester Against the Cuts
Maidenburgh Street
Colchester

...Well done Bobby Hunt.

Coming second in the St Andrew’s ward election was quite an achievement.

I don’t think councillor Tim Young should take any comfort from the result.

Yes, his colleague Tina Dopson won, but with the support of only 15 per cent of the total electorate in a strong Labour ward.

It was not exactly a ringing endorsement for his policies or proposals for sheltered housing. Compare this with the number of signatures on the petitions against the plans and the level of public outcry really becomes apparent.

There were a number of us campaigning for Bobby and many of the people we spoke to in St Andrew’s were supportive of our stand against the closure of Joyce Brooks House. This home provides excellent accommodation for elderly people and it is essential it is kept open for existing tenants and future generations of Colcestrians.

Norman Bailey
Cambridge Road
Colchester