Bridget's Blog

Has Ken Loach lost the plot? I heard him on the Today programme this morning. Loach, famous for his radical left-wing views, is calling on people to stop giving money to Shelter, because of an industrial dispute among its employees.

Shelter is a national charity but one in which I have a strong local interest. Shelter is based in my constituency, in Old Street. And Loach’s docu-drama, ‘Cathy Come Home’, which led to the creation of Shelter, was filmed partly in Popham Street, Islington; just across the road from my home.

The film’s tenements have been cleared long since, and the modern Popham Estate is in their place. The nature of homelessness has changed; instead of families on the streets, we have the hidden homeless, three or four generations of families squashed into one flat, because there is nothing like enough affordable housing to go round. So Shelter’s work is still desperately needed.

Shelter staff are as entitled to fair pay and to take industrial action as anyone else. But the idea that donors should cut off funding to the charity in response is just barmy.

Ken Loach is one of those left-wingers who seems to think any industrial dispute is worth supporting, no matter who suffers. It’s the kind of view that led me to leave the Labour party for the Liberals nearly 25 years ago.

But it gets worse. Loach argues that by taking contracts for Government work, something Shelter has done since the 1970s, they are somehow compromised in their independence. In fact, as Shelter’s Chief Exec Adam Sampson made clear, they are as outspoken as ever; his last appearance on Today was attacking Housing Minister Caroline ‘heart of’ Flint’s policy of evicting the unemployed. She’s demonstrated that new Labour is no more attractive or reasonable than the old hard left.

Loach then went on to say that Shelter should not take work from the Government, because the Government was ‘part of the market economy that causes homelessness in the first place’. What is he proposing? I thought state funding was the left’s holy grail to avoid dependence on the market? And what about corporate charity donations? Does he want Shelter to reject those? Many donors will be pleased to know that Shelter’s admin costs are kept under control, so the money goes to those most in need.

I should declare an interest: I’ve been a Shelter donor, through payroll giving, for many years. So Loach’s piece was aimed at me. I’ll certainly review my giving to Shelter as a result; it’s about time they got an increase.