Brexit, Blakenall and years of malign neglect | Letters

Giles Fraser (Loose canon, 13 October) refers to the deprivation he found in parts of Blakenall, Walsall, where some time ago he was temporarily a priest. It is indeed the case that far too many try to manage on a totally inadequate income. As for people spending all day in their dressing gowns, which he mentions, I would simply point out that when unemployment was even higher there than nationally in the Thatcher years, whenever job vacancies were advertised locally the numbers who applied were far in excess of those needed. Substantial regeneration work in Blakenall and the surrounding areas was carried out a few years ago as a result of Labour’s New Deal for Communities programme.

As for the present, a Church of England primary school within walking distance of Blakenall was the subject of a Commons debate I initiated in April last year. The school, built in 1862, is damp throughout, full of holes and in some classrooms it is not possible to even open the windows. When the schools minister visited the school, at my invitation, he was heard by local reporters to say “Awful, awful”. Yet once again an application for substantial work to be undertaken has been turned down by the Education Funding Agency.

Fraser mentioned Brexit: my concern indeed, shared by so many on the left, is that this would be used by the Tories for policies that would hit even harder those in need, be it in Blakenall or elsewhere. A Labour government carrying out progressive policies is what is so urgently required.
David Winnick
Former MP for Walsall North (1979-2017)

• Walsall never was a pretty town but it was productive with a strong working-class tradition based in pride of place and skilled work. It now exists as a monument to 40 years of malign neglect, with factories still abandoned years after closure, foundries, forges, steelworks, rolling mills and workshops all gone, highly productive land reduced to post-industrial dereliction. We all know this and its political consequences – far-right populism, helplessness and alienation – yet what we get from Giles is a sideswipe at Waitrose customers. Despite his change of politics, he is strong on vicary hand-wringing and short on practical policies to redress the situation; good on “something must be done”, weak on proposals for action. What is needed is massive investment in productive industries, not the asset-stripping and financial manipulation that characterises the UK economy today.
Roy Boffy
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands

• Giles Fraser’s column was worth all of this year’s Guardian subscription.
Joyce Brand
Ludlow, Shropshire

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