Photo by Luismi Sánchez on Unsplash
Public outrage at the horror of the acts of Robert Bush at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors seems to have ebbed away since the flurry of headlines and wall to wall news coverage at the end of July.
The devastation wreaked on so many unsuspecting people who trusted a funeral director to care for their loved ones, only to learn that he had utterly failed them, seems to count for nothing.
Bush is in prison, the news cycle has moved on, and the thousands of people in Hull who are affected are just supposed to get on with their lives somehow.
The Government issued a statement after the sentencing which offered vague promises about ‘urgent action’, but no detail. And no timeframe.
Two MPs made attempts to introduce amendments to the Health Bill, both of which failed.
And the petition that calls for urgent introduction of statutory regulation of the funeral sector currently has had fewer than 5,000 signatures.
Started by Karen Dry, the daughter of two people whose funerals were carried out by Bush, the petition calls for:
- A Statutory Regulatory regime.
- An Independent Governance to oversee the entire sector.
- Mandatory Standards and licencing, ensuring consistent care through licensed and Professional standards.
- Independent inspections, regular unscheduled checks of premises.
- Oversight and accountability, new roles to oversee the care of the deceased, namely a Commissioner for the Dignity of the Deceased and a Chief Inspector.
All of this as per the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Final Report and Recommendations.
Straightforward. Unequivocal. Absolutely no reason why this petition hasn’t been signed by tens of thousands of people.
And yet, as of today’s date, just 4,469 have bothered. That’s not even halfway towards the target of 10,000 signatures that will trigger a government response.
There are more than 6,000 funeral director branches in the UK. Most belong to one of the two trade associations that say they want regulation brought in. Most have at least two or three staff members. Those people all have families. All of them could have been asked to sign the petition by the trade associations they belong to.
They haven’t been. Despite Mrs Dry asking both NAFD and SAIF for this directly.
Today, we have committed to supporting Karen in her attempts to try and get the government to listen to the families who have been so appallingly failed.
Government responds when there is public pressure. Unless the people in power feel the public is demanding change, they have 101 other things to get on with, all of which will be deemed more urgent.
If you haven’t signed the Legacy families’ petition, please do. Do it today. Now.
And then ask your friends and family to do the same.
And ask them to share the petition on their social media.
The link to the petition is here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/767402?utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e0_tv0
If people who are actually actively interested in and involved with the funeral sector can’t be bothered to support the bereaved families who are calling for change, then we might as well all give up.
Surely, at the very least, Karen and the other families affected by Robert Bush, Elkin & Bell, Amie Upton, Richard Sage – and all the other funeral director scandals that have emerged over the years – deserve to see people standing up and supporting them as they fight for the unregulated funeral sector to become accountable.
The silence speaks loudly.
And it is shameful.
