The House of Lords has decreed that criminals have more human rights than elderly people in care homes. Five Law Lords came to this conclusion when they decided that old people in independent care homes were not subject to human rights legislation.

This means that around 300,000 elderly people are at greater risk of abuse because they do not share the same rights as those in hospitals, council homes or prisons. Charities campaigning for the elderly have attacked the decision as a "catastrophe".

Recently, an 84 year old Alzheimer's sufferer was threatened with eviction from a care home after she had been placed in a home by Birmingham City Council. There was a "breakdown" in relations between her family and management of the home and she was asked to leave.

When the Human Rights Act was first drafted, it was stated that the Act should apply to all public bodies, but a loophole was left by the failure to add private care homes, even when a resident is paid for by a local authority.

The family of the 84 year old said that, as she was being cared for under contract to Birmingham City Council, she should be allowed to stay. The Law Lords decided, by a 3-2 majority, that the Human Rights Act did not apply.

As long as criminals are kept happy and contented that is the main thing! You have better protection, and more rights in Blair's Britain if you break the law than if you happen to be in a care home!