[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Caring Times editor GEOFF HODGSON

A campaigner wrote recently about how angry he was that, when he wrote to all 650 English MPs about the challenges facing social care, he received fewer than 10 responses. I’m surprised he got that many.

It’s not often I find myself coming to the defence of politicians but an MP’s office has limited resources and must surely give priority to concerns expressed by constituents. Anyone can get hold of a list of MPs’ contact details and then fire-off a form-letter, and I suspect many do, so when one of these arrives in the in-tray, it will be given an understandably low priority.

I dare say that if 650 people in each English constituency wrote to their MP expressing their concerns about social care, the response would be a lot higher. But would it have any effect? I doubt it – after all, the Government seems to feel it can ignore a million-plus people marching in London, asking for a ‘people’s vote’ on Brexit, and another six million people petitioning to have Article 50 revoked.

Those of us close to the action in social care are aware of the problems but the man on the Clapham omnibus has a lot of other things on his mind – MPs and the Government know this.

• The CT Blog is written in a personal capacity – comments and opinions expressed are not necessarily endorsed or supported by Caring Times.

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