What’s the crack Mr Smith?
Drug dealers operate in full view of cabinet minister’s house
Blackbird Leys residents are being forced to keep children away from the once popular Gillians Park because of crack dealers plying their trade right under the nose of Oxford East MP Andrew Smith and his wife Val, a Labour councillor for the area.
The park, which straddles the old and new parts of the estate, lies within yards of the Smith’s house on Flaxfield Road. However, neither the New Labour cabinet minister nor his wife have shown any interest in the deteriorating situation.
A number of residents have voiced their concerns to the IWCA, frustrated by the lack of action taken against dealers by the police, politicians and housing authorities.
Speaking on their behalf, Stuart Craft of the IWCA said, ‘This is an unacceptable situation. Are Andrew and Val Smith really so out of touch these days that they don’t know what’s happening on their own doorstep? Or, like the rest of New Labour, are they no longer interested in the concerns of ordinary working class residents?’
The IWCA’s second ‘Your Point of View’ survey, completed this month (see article overleaf), demonstrates that Class-A drugs are sill a major concern to the majority of Blackbird Leys householders.
Since last year’s survey, which revealed the true extent of the drugs problem on the estate, the IWCA has been campaigning against drug dealers. Regular readers of the Leys Independent will be aware that the IWCA was instrumental in removing one drugs outlet from Greater Leys last year and exposed two other areas, used for heroin and crack dealing, in the media.
‘The IWCA is not interested in pursuing a moral agenda on this issue,’ Mr Craft made clear, ‘Our objection to class-A drugs is based purely on their detrimental effect on working class communities—the disruption, antisocial behaviour and fear that drug dealers’ neighbours have to put up with, as well as the misery caused to families whose children get caught up in the cycle of addiction.’
The IWCA repeats its call for immediate solutions to be implemented to tackle the drug problem on Blackbird Leys:
• Action should be taken to remove crack dealers from Gillians Park. There is no excuse for the authorities dragging their heels over this issue;
• Existing tenancy agreements should be properly enforced in the case of known heroin and crack-cocaine dealers, to put a stop to their activities or remove them from the estate.
Leys Independent, Issue 11, March 2002
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