I RECENTLY did my carefully budgeted shopping at a Tesco supermarket and as I was waiting my turn at the cashier's section, there was a young couple before me who were having their goods checked.

I observed that the majority of the items purchased were perfumery, hair sprays, lipstick, facial make-up items and very little food items.

The man was well dressed and wore a flashy looking watch, while the lady was well dolled up with a stylish hair do. When it came to paying for the goods the man produced two letters, one of which was a Haringey Council headed letter and the other which showed proof of his refugee status and to my surprise Haringey Council seemed to be paying the bill.

Even when the man tried to take the documents out of his pocket a `wad' of £20 notes fell on the floor and he looked at me and grinned while he quickly grabbed the notes off the floor. For all one knows he could be driving a BMW or a four-wheel-drive expensive vehicle.

The news that Haringey Council might give a group of travellers in Wood Green up to £20,000 each to `move on' shows how indifferent many councillors are to those of us who have to make ends meet, in paying one of the highest council taxes in Britain.

My conclusion is that it seems one is much better off being a refugee or a traveller in Haringey. Or is it that politicians and decisions makers are suffering from some form of Mad Cow Disease

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.