Why won't the political Left love carers ?

All carers vary, in both the nature of their caring role and their attitude to it. To keep things simple, let us take a 24/7 carer like me. Not that I am that typical, as an OAP I have a pension to live on, which is much better than the pittance younger carers have.

The 24/7 carer is not the heroic proletarian of socialist mythology, by and large. Struggling to cope against overwhelming odds, with little and decreasing support, they are even demonised by some as social security scroungers. Many of them, in my experience, are sadly lacking in political awareness, or even in awareness of the reality of their own situation. The most aware of them, like those in Care Watch, would like to do something about their blatant, but unrecognised exploitation. However, given the constraints of their situation and their lack of resources, they are in need of some help.

So what is more natural than for them than to turn to those historic defenders of the exploited, the political Left. However, for some reason, with a few very honourable exceptions, we are not loved by the Left. We cannot be the vanguard of the revolution, we don't have the time or the energy. Remember that the working class do not consist exclusively of industrial workers, unionised and ready for action. Less so now in the UK than previously. It consists of all the exploited. Carers need a trade union too, to defend their interests and negotiate on their behalf, precisely because they are workers too. They need a wage and decent conditions of service too.

New Labour are about to launch a new attack on carers, the elderly and the disabled. Will the MPs associated with Compass and the Labour Representation Committee defend us ? Will the wider Left support us at last ?