WE hear increasingly from the Government of the problems caused by 'social exclusion,' but seldom do we hear of any effective remedies.

There are, particularly in the so-called working-class areas of the North, what used to be one the principal sources of entertainment for the poorer members of society, the Working Men's Clubs, sometimes built around sporting activities and pastimes, such as crown green bowling.

Other pastimes also included a Saturday afternoon spent at places like Ewood Park.

This has now been excluded from many older people, who cannot afford a weekly gate fee of £18 or £20 out of the basic State Pension.

Now also at risk is the club. Legislation currently includes, for taxation purposes, all such social clubs, whose principal aims are solely for the benefit of members, for whom they are in the vast majority of cases, and in particular, the elder members, the only avenue for social intercourse.

In the past two years, in the Wigan area, I have confirmed evidence of 22 clubs having closed, and in the smaller Chorley area, eight such clubs have closed. At this rate of decline, this aspect of our social infrastructure, by the end of the first decade of the next millennium, will have disappeared. However, if we take an example of one such club, well known to myself, there are means by which the State may assist, by simply withdrawing its boundaries of taxation, and giving these surviving clubs an opportunity to regenerate local community activities.

If the clubs are simply allowed to disappear, the community loses, as does the Exchequer.

If the clubs are removed outside the pale, allowed to de-register from VAT, and run by the members as they see fit, they may continue to survive, and the Exchequer also continues to receive revenue in the form of excise duties on alcohol, VAT which cannot be reclaimed and gaming licences on fruit machines.

Decisions are required, not by committees and consultation procedures, but by statesmen. The time allowed for these decisions is measured in weeks.

T KENDALL (Mr), Railway Road, Brinscall.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.