Another old lady, this time aged 101, is pictured having to leave her care home.

Hardly a day has gone by recently without a newspaper story of an elderly person dying because of the closure of the home that has sheltered them for years.

We are talking here about the most vulnerable members of our society who for many years provided the solid base on which our community depends.

These are the people that bore much of the brunt of the war and, in many cases, have grown old alone, having lost their husbands, sons and lovers.

These people, who have done so much in their lifetime to provide support for others, need help and support themselves to end their days in dignity and comfort.

In many cases they have no relatives left to do battle for them.

One might have thought they did not need to fight for at this time of life. Surely they should get help from the council?

But their care homes are being closed around them, often because of nit-picking regulations about such trivial things as the width of a doorway.

Perhaps even worse, the places that do exist are being given to fully-funded people while those in desperate need are thrown out for the sake of £100 to £200 in top-up fees the councils refuse to pay.

Care home owners say they cannot afford to continue to subsidise places when new legislation is being piled on them from central government.

One has sympathy - but surely the people to fight are the councils who license these homes, not the defenceless old folk who do not understand what is happening to them as they are bundled into a car and driven off to strange surroundings.

I don't know how many homes have gone from Brighton and Hove during the past few years but if the figure has followed the national trend, it will be a sizeable number.

The population as a whole is getting older and people are living longer, which means a time bomb is building up for the future. And then you read a headline saying it is costing £94,000 to keep a difficult six-year-old at a special school.

Surely this must be la-la land. What can you provide for one child that costs that sort of money? So you start to calculate how many places in care homes this would buy for people who have contributed so much to this country.

The next day you read an article that says a government minister thinks it would be a good idea to give £20,000 to those young people who have mugged and robbed and burgled because if they had money, they would not be tempted to do such anti-social things.

By this time you feel the men in white coats cannot be far away.

I mean we must be mad if we work for a living while these other folk get that sort of money by doing nothing.

It is crazy that money can be found for people who have contributed nothing to our society while those whose needs are less eye-catching have to pass the begging bowl round.

There is not a lot I would wish to import from mainland Europe but their care of and commitment to the senior members of their society is generally of a high standard. Family is family and they tend to look after their own.

I have no doubt there will be many more headlines as the days go by telling equally sad stories.

I wish I felt more confident the people involved will be generously dealt with.