No one is happy that older residents and people with disabilities may be affected by the dispute over pay cuts for staff in Barnet’s care homes. But making sure our vulnerable neighbours get good quality care has to start with respect and decent pay for the staff who look after them.

The care home staff have already accepted redundancies of nearly a third and now their pay is being cut by almost ten per cent. Does anyone in charge seriously think this will go through without putting the care of residents at risk?

Barnet’s Conservative councillors are pretending that this sorry situation has nothing to do with them, even though it was their decision to hand over running of the homes to a company it set up without a sustainable business plan, and that it refuses to fund properly.

I support the care staff in calling on Barnet Borough Council to take part in meaningful negotiations to protect these vital services. Conservative councillors cannot simply pass the buck to the Your Choice Barnet company, when they have ultimate control of its income.

Public spending cuts are unavoidable as part of Britain’s recovery from the banking crisis. But across the country people believe the way the Conservative government has chosen its cuts has been unfair. The burden has not been shared in a balanced way and vulnerable people have been hit the hardest.

Sadly, Conservative councillors in Barnet have been responsible for some of the worst examples of cuts that fail the fairness test.

Sarah Sackman

Labour parliamentary candidate for Finchley & Golders Green