There are two big issues over social care. Politicians talk about a lot about the first , make promises to change and then fail. That is the issue of the elderly using the savings and money from the sale of their home to pay for themslves when they need to go into a care home. The one they ignore is the quality and costs of the public sector provision of health care to most elderly people and care homes for those without savings. Today I will tackle the first of these issues.
My parents from modest beginnings managed to buy their own home and paid off the mortgage by the time they retired. They had some savings. I never thought I had a right to that money. When it became clear both needed to move into a care home I helped them choose a good quality one. It offered communal facilities with decent restaurant/dining room meals and a hotel style lounge, daily activities, trips and entertainments if they wanted any. It also gave them their own flat with a sitting room and a bedroom when they wished to be on their own. I helped them sell their home to assist in covering the substantial bills decent care and facilities generated. The money did last out for the period of their time in the care home.
Many argue I should have had the right to inherit the money they spent on their care in old age. That would only be possible if the state took on responsibility for paying the care home fees of the elderly that do still own their own homes or have savings. That would be a colossal bill for taxpayers and would be unfair between those elderly going into a care home and those still living in their own homes and having to pay their own living costs and accommodation levies. The elderly person going into a care home is not normally going to return to self sufficient living, so if their home is left empty surely it needs to be sold? Homes are best used, and deteriorate if left empty for long periods.
The argument runs that it is not fair if someone who has saved and bought a home has to pay for their care home stay, but someone who has not saved and always rented gets a free care home place. Yet that is our system also for working age. We who work hard and pay tax accept we need to pay so those who are unable to work get their home and living costs paid by the state. Those who own their own home do not get money for that, but if people rent they get the rent paid by the state when in need. Why should it be any different in old age? There are of course big debates today about how many really do need to be state dependent, and how many should be looking for work, which Mr Burnham says he wishes to tackle. The issue with benefits and with access to free care homes is one of access terms and entitlement. It would be far too costly to offer free care homes and free living costs for all.
July 18, 2026
Your parents did very well. The Greatest generation had to spend much youthful energy protecting our democratic, free world rather than working all their lives to provide for themselves.
They also had to survive the socialist onslaught and 98% tax after the war, another whole war in itself.
In those circumstances surviving, raising a family and never being a burden to your friends or family counts as a monumental achievement.
July 18, 2026
We sold my Mothers house to pay her care. She too enjoyed the last yesr of her life well looked after
I asked the Care Home manager how many of the 30 residents were self funded and it was 9. They also paid around, £1k a month more than the council was prepared to pay.
I don’t know the solution but it’s grossly unfair as it stands.
July 18, 2026
Indeed, best advice is perhaps to sell the home and spend the money while healthy on cruises etc. or give it away and rent accommodation (with the state paying your rent and council tax) before you need a care home. The State so often rewards and encourages people to be feckless scroungers.
July 18, 2026
The method you propose is tantamount to scrounging itself.
July 18, 2026
THE PROBLEM is timing this, as you do not know when or even if you will ever need a care home.
Lifetime risk estimates suggest that circa 23% of individuals may spend some time in a care facility during their later years. Also the average time spent in a care home typically only ranges between 1 to 2.5 years. So not that long for most people either.
July 18, 2026
This assumes that the State will always have the resources to pay.
What if they can’t pay? What happens to those dependent on a bankrupt state?
July 18, 2026
98% income tax was “Silly Billy” double first Denis Healey from 1974, but dire socialist halfwit Osborne gave us over 100% income tax for landlords by not allowing interest deductions against rents this taxing people on money they had not even made. Worse still he suggested it was unfair they got this when owner occupiers did not a blatant lie. Rather like the lie that private school users get a tax brake when they pay 3 or now four times over.
July 18, 2026
Tax break rather – but what is a point of endless different spellings for homophones it just wastes time? Surely no real point in them. No need or advantage in differentiating in the sound and thus no need to differentiate with the spelling – is this not wright, write, right, rite?
July 18, 2026
Osborne also lied that he would give everyone £1 m IHT each thresholds, it is still even now just £325k and after inflation this is worth more like £200k now. He also tried to scare us into voting remain!
Thanks Osborne!
July 18, 2026
50 years on but this time the IMF will not even have the money to rescue the UK when Mahmood (it seems) goes cap in hand to them.
July 18, 2026
Allister Heath today-
Welcome to Burnham’s world: a farrago of nonsense, revisionism and economic illiteracy
Even given the low bar set by recent prime ministers, it was a shockingly poor speech from Labour’s new leader
July 18, 2026
Not to forget Brown sabotaging what was a good private pension arrangement…
Major said he wanted “wealth cascading down the generations”…he didn’t…
July 18, 2026
Wealth Cascading down, should be the reward for hard work, and sensible financial planning, so that the next generation get start in life, impossible now with the levels of IHT, the gifting restrictions, and the 7 year rule.
Wanted to pay for Our Granddaughter’s University fees, so she left Uni debt free, was advised not to do it as it would be deemed a gift by HMRC, and if we died within 7 years then she would be taxed on it.
Government always seem to want our money both ways.
July 18, 2026
So do we really – kneed, knead, need them,
July 18, 2026
+1
July 21, 2026
Well said.
July 18, 2026
The argument runs that it is not fair if someone who has saved and bought a home has to pay for their care home stay, but someone who has not saved and always rented gets a free care home place.
And when the Tories were in power why the hell didn’t they do something about it, I’ve worked very hard in the Heavy Transport industry to get what I’ve got now but it really pisses me off that I had school leavers in the late 1960s who never had a job are entitled to free handouts when they’ve retired unlike me but because I’ve gone by the system of working to get what I have now and get penalised because I have a few bob plus a paid up house,but these out of never worked parasites have a far better lifestyle than me
July 18, 2026
The unfairness we all see when we look at the price being paid by those with their own resources and the price not paid by those who for one reason or another have never paid for anything is today’s biggest economic challenge.
The sector of society that have sought economic independence and worked to achieve that, are being abused in the final years of their lives by the state taking it all off them. This is happening, despite the fact these are the actual funding members of society the actual tax payers who have already paid for those who have never earned or paid anything into the nation’s social costs pot.
This unfairness is the feature that will destroy social cohesion and will add to the growing number of people leaving the country. People are increasingly looking for fairer and better opportunities to live away from the UK.
When this feature of unfairness in modern UK society is added to the authorities/police tolerance of criminal activities i.e. drug dealing, shop lifting and corruption on a national scale, it is no surprise people unhappy with the situation are leaving.
July 19, 2026
It is State intervention that makes things unfair. Things are done for ideological reasons dressed up as compassion. Think of it as a drug dealer giving someone ‘free stuff’. Soon they are addicted and cannot get off of it and have to pay, pay and pay again. A miserable life.
And we are stuck in that ‘Doom-loop’ having to pay for more free stuff, especially for people who do not contribute.
July 18, 2026
What about the situation where a council will cap the fees that it pays therefore those that self fund can be subsidising those that don’t pay for themselves?
Reply What is your proposal to stop this?
July 18, 2026
Everyone should pay the same for the same level of service regardless of whether it’s the council or private individual.
July 18, 2026
Perhaps the private paying ones do get better rooms? You also do generally get a discount if you buy more of something (if you ask for one).
July 18, 2026
Under normal trading circumstances when you give a discount you expect to reduce your margin, you probably don’t expect to charge the next customer more to cover the difference. I did say “same service” 🤔
July 18, 2026
Not so. All residents enjoyed the same ensuite accommodation.
July 18, 2026
Reply to reply
You are the people paid to produce the answers…but don’t.
Heat…kitchen…out…get…etc
July 18, 2026
Good morning.
The State has been attacking the family for well over a hundred years. By doing so it has had to take on many of the roles the family would do, and that includes looking after ones on parents.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was released in the early 60’s and its author, Roald Dahl writes into the book the elderly grandparents of the main character, Charlie. They are all staying in the same family home. Not Care Home, Family Home !! It was of course a work of fiction but, the writer was from a different age, an age when this would be seen as the thing.
We must stop politicians making promises for things they know others will pay.
July 18, 2026
@Mark B
Yes – it’s sad that it’s only in the west that we chose to abandon our elderly to state control when we cannot cope with them. In other countries families make space for their elderly to live with them.
July 18, 2026
“We must stop politicians making promises for things they know others will pay”. So how can we do that?
They are very generous in promising the feckless other people’s money to buy their votes. They rarely deliver their promises or even try to. This as they rapidly run out of other people’s money to grab.
July 19, 2026
You answered your own question, in a roundabout way. ie Do not vote for political parties that promise to do this or that.
The other thing I would do is to change the voting system. Those who do not pay taxes for 5 straight years should have their votes taken away from them. If they will not contribute to the pot, why should they be allowed to sup from it ?
July 18, 2026
I agree that people should pay for their own care if they can, but as is well known the cost of private care is bumped up to subsidise care for those paid for by the council. It’s completely unacceptable to force private individuals to support a public service.
July 18, 2026
This happens all the time. Discounts for the feckless & full price for the people who fund themselves – in so many areas.
July 18, 2026
indeed even illegal immigrants are now getting advantageous rates for using Council facilities in some areas, etc etc.
We really have lost the plot, even those on Benefits seem to get discounted prices on some form of entertainment.
Why bother to work, invest and save ?
July 18, 2026
Those who have no assets end up in council run care homes where the facilities are very basic. You get a bedroom but most of the other facilities are communal. Many elderly seem to enjoy this, they like the company, having someone to talk to etc. The food is often very basic. Councils have to provide for these people, which puts upward pressure on council tax.
Those with means usually go for a private care home, where the fees are astronomical due to the profit motive. Very few can afford to pay these fees indefinitely and once their resources are exhausted, they frequently have to find somewhere cheaper to live with all the uprooting that entails right near the end.
As the baby boomer generation reach the end of their lives, many of them prefer to spend their golden years in their own homes, buying in care from the private sector for as long as it’s possible. Downsizing is possible, as is equity release. Those choosing this option are terrified of developing dementia in their later years
Burnham and his Labour government intend to deal with this issue, which has become much more relevant as the population ages and more and more elderly need care. Previous governments have ignored it. Inevitably, it will involve more resources being allocated.
Reply So which new taxes to pay for it?
July 18, 2026
“Those with means usually go for a private care home, where the fees are astronomical due to the profit motive. Very few can afford to pay these fees indefinitely and once their resources are exhausted, they frequently have to find somewhere cheaper to live with all the uprooting that entails right near the end.”
You’ve made that up. When you sell your house to fund care home fees you do it by buying an Immediate Needs Annuity which pays the fees for life.
July 18, 2026
Roy if only that were so. Depending on age and health, not many if any insurance companies will indemnify for life.
July 20, 2026
That’s not true. INA are available to all just like standard annuities.
July 18, 2026
@JR – reply
No new taxes, cut the welfare bill by getting more people off benefits and into work, deport more criminals, use AI to improve civil service efficiency, stop selling British companies to predatory foreigners keeping their profits and dividends here
July 19, 2026
And bring in pay-per-mile for EV’s.
July 19, 2026
And cancel Net Zero before it is too late. The Telegraph reports that grid project costs are soaring by up to 500% which would mean that upgrading the national grid by 2050 would cost nearly 1 £trillion. All to show us leading the way in net zeroing anthropogenic emissions of CO2, a completely pointless exercise when 97% of all CO2 emissions are natural and the science shows that there is already sufficient CO2 in the atmosphere to absorb all the planet’s emitted IR radiation that it can and hence adding more CO2 makes little, if any, difference. An effect known as saturation which is endorsed by The Royal Society. It’s akin to adding extra sheets of kitchen paper to a spill once the first few sheets have mopped up all the liquid. Those that believe that anthropogenic emissions of CO2 are causing the planet to warm are as deluded as those around King Cnut who believed in anthropogenic tide control.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/07/18/grid-upgrade-costs-could-soar-500/#more-92289
July 18, 2026
The do not have more “resources” they are strangling the economy with over taxation, over regulation and net zero already – decreasing the “resources” they can “steal” from voters.
July 18, 2026
And how will Burnham and this Labour Govt deal with it. Don’t hold your breath, it is not going to be equitable.
July 18, 2026
Not so. All residents enjoyed the same ensuite accommodation.
July 18, 2026
Flipping the coin. Those that decide to not go to care homes get their assets plundered just like those that enter the Care Home route. Inheritance Tax deprives offspring of what is theirs by right. Naturally there are loop holes, if you are in the club you will know this!
July 18, 2026
Once again the economists, fund managers and rich commentators are demanding the end of the pension “triple lock”, claiming that it’s unsustainable and we can’t afford it
Pensioners have paid NI contributions into the system all their working lives. The state pension and it’s earnings related element known as SERPS have been used by many of those approaching pensionable age to calculate how much savings they need to put away whilst they are still working.
Why should the pensioners have their income reduced in an inflationary environment because successive governments need to pay for excessive inward migration and particularly, the boat people? Already, the government has tried to tinker with the pensioner’s winter fuel allowance. Even pensioner’s ISA savings are now being taxed
The pensioners are not responsible for the profligacy of previous governments. If money has to be saved, the way to do it is to reduce the benefits bill for those who claim they cannot work, asylum seekers and their families and particularly the boat people.
July 18, 2026
The pensioners who voted for profligate governments are responsible for them. Those governments spent all the contributions that were supposed to be put by for their old age, and even borrowed more because they couldn’t balance the books. If those NI contributions were intended for old age pensions, the country should have shown a surplus in every year.
July 18, 2026
Do you really think that people who voted for Johnson, for instance, are responsible for his printing £800 billion? Was that in his manifesto? The 4.5 million he brought in from Africa, Afghanistan and the Sub-Continent, costing £240,000 EACH (EU figures) must be added to the intolerable burden he used to attack the native British.
Who knew? Nobody voted for that.
July 19, 2026
No one know what any government will do once in office. That is why I believe in Direct Democracy and a balanced budget.
What I do expect pensioners and all other forms of voters to do, is not vote for any party that does not serve the National Interest.
July 18, 2026
SG indeed
I paid in extra whilst working to get an enhanced State pension, My reward, it has been taxed for the last two years so I get 20% less than the published triple lock amount.
Already my Council tax and gas and electricity increases, have taken more than the increase in Pension. so I am worse off than the previous year, without even taking into account the increases in food, House and Car insurance, general maintenance on the home etc etc.etc etc.
Basic mathematic calculations show that the purchasing value of the State Pension is reducing, not increasing.
July 18, 2026
Quality, costs etc. And availability. First to address is that even those who own our own house can rarely afford the excellent care homes your parents seem to have afforded. Most people are faced with £1500/week for one room in a privately run place with sticky carpets, a smell of urine and the constant wail of ‘nurse, nurse’ from the demented.
Most people who have to pay for themselves are forced to leave going into a care home until the last few weeks. Carefully managed by their medical team to ensure they only last a few weeks. In effect for the private patient these places are just a few weeks B&B until the man from the funeral parlour calls.
Sure, people could sell their house but it does grieve a bit to see £350k effectively thrown down the drain. Especially as that £350k came from house price inflation induced by successive government’s deliberate policy to keep house prices high.
The house price inflation of the last 50 years is unlikely to be repeated so the £350k represents a family windfall that will never come again. The young in average sorts of job are not buying and cannot buy houses and the crop of ‘doer uppers’ is rapidly diminishing into the hands of builders and rentiers.
Roll on Mr Burnham and 1000’s of Council houses? The system is stacked against that notion. No solution coming any time soon. There are many many beaks in the housing/care home trough who all have lobbying power.
July 18, 2026
The quality of care homes varies considerably. There are even some State ones that achieve a good degree of quality of life for residents, but most offer the bare minimum of comfort and service. It’s common to see little in the way of stimulation as residents sink into apathy, waiting for God, all sat around in a circle of chairs watching a single TV set.
At least private care homes offer so much more and would be the choice of most people – Moving state homes to that quality is not even a goal, but it does mean a council home is freed up.
Like all things provided by the state or nationalised, only the lowest common denominator of service is provided.
Ideally care homes should be part of the community, not isolated, but close to family and friends. It’s partially a matter of architecture and how we plan our housing but we ought to be able to incorporate the elderly needing care into a more loving and friendly environment at a reasonable cost.
July 18, 2026
It doesn’t help that the British taxpayer is paying for foreigners to live in our care homes. My Spanish neighbour sent his elderly mother to live in a care home in Devon, all paid for by the council. The family had never paid a penny in tax to the UK. How can this be right? We now see the courts are allowing more family reunification, which is putting a burden on our finances. This needs to stop; we can’t afford to look after our own, never mind people who don’t even belong here. Soft touch Britain has to end. Those with assets funding their own care is relatively new. My grandparents received free home help and nursing home care, which wasn’t means-tested. Along with many previously free things, like university education, we are now expected to pay for. We are living beyond our means; it’s as simple as that.
July 19, 2026
Eventually, one way or another, the ‘System’ will break.
July 18, 2026
The ‘if only’
If only compulsory National Insurance – was ‘insurance’. A well meaning idea corrupted from the ‘get go’ being forced in to being a Ponzi Scheme to get a UK Parliament of the hook for the promises they make to get elected on, then renege on the day after. A dishonest Parliament!
Like so many things, the powers that be because of ‘personal ego’ just corrupt the intention.
There is no on single thing, its everything that is lost unable to do what is intended.
Pension payments are available to all at around the same amount for those that have never paid in as those that have.
Road Fund Licence as it was, the phraseology made sense those that use get to pay. Then along comes the UK Parliament, the political ideology warping the intention. The roads are underfunded all the while the money the road user contributes disappears.
The corruption of purpose is everywhere.
July 19, 2026
Absolutely. 100%. And well said. Every word.
Even Al Capone and the Kray’s had more honesty and morals than this lot.
July 18, 2026
Jane is a woman who worked all her life, saved all she could and spent almost nothing on luxuries. At age 75 she owned her own house and had £20k in the bank.
Jack is different. He rarely worked but stole from others. He spent large sums on drugs, booze, loose women, rock n’ roll and gambling.
At 60 Jack had no home of his own, nor any money but had £80k in gambling debts.
Both he and Jane needed nursing care at the same time.
Jane paid all her fees from what she had.
Jack had nothing but debt, so received his free of any charge, effectively funded by what Jane had contributed to tax.
Burnham would describe Jane as unlucky, and Jack as someone whom we should all feel compassionate about and support.
July 18, 2026
@Bloke – that’s Socialism, the World of entitlement without contribution
July 19, 2026
Or, as Socialism does say: “From each (Jane) according to their ability, to each (Jack) according to their needs.”
It, as Ian B says above, ” . . . political ideology warping the intention. “
July 18, 2026
I remember that Enoch Powell, in a discussion of the merits of saving, asking the question: ‘But what are you saving for?’, and as you indicate I think there is a great deal of confusion on that point, as to whether it is for future security for oneself, or for the next generation. I would have thought that the first priority must be oneself.
Part of the answer to the merit of saving for a house, over spending the money on rent, is that most people inevitably see their home as an investment on which any profit, if realised in their lifetime, is free of tax, which is unlike almost any other form of investment. Arguably therefore the State has a right to expect the proceeds to be used to help fund care.
There is no doubt though, that Care Home fees are extortionate. I found that when my wife needed care, the difference between putting her in a Home, which I and our children regarded as a last resort, and paying carers to come and look after her in her home, was negligible, and that is what I did. It was helped by the fact that I was around and capable, but even without that, the difference would not have been that great.
July 18, 2026
When you are paying for care home fees or carers, you are also paying for the cost of employer’s NI contributions and the high cost of their rent/mortgage, plus the administrative cost of employee legislation, so don’t expect it to come cheap.
July 18, 2026
I have always considered it my responsibility to provide for myself and my family. The state is a last resort not a first resort. I do not see why people on modest incomes should pay tax so that my children can inherit.
As for the state pension, the triple lock has to go. Indexation in accordance with average earnings would be the fairest approach. However, given the contractual language surrounding the state pension (we make contributions to buy it and can buy additional years) it would be a supreme breach of trust to make it a means tested benefit.
July 18, 2026
“We who work hard and pay tax accept we need to pay so those who are unable to work get their home and living costs paid by the state.”
While most people would agree with the ‘premise’, the sentiment, its just another well meaning electioneering wish that then gets distorted. There are many levels and many facets that come into play, ‘unable to work’ define? War veterans/amputees, the likes of Billy Monger all had their lives stripped from them in horrendous circumstance most find ways to adapt to the change circumstances. Most get to work and contribute
Then we have this new Socialist World of entitlement, because someone else has something the Government should ensure I am ‘given’ the same. There the meaning isn’t that of the equal opportunity, but just ‘give me’
There is the Socialist phraseology of ‘paying ones fair share!’ In simplistic terms, if someone earns £500 per week and pays 10% tax that’s £50.00 of contribution they make. If someone earns £2000 per week then pays 10% that’s £200.00 contribution. That’s one person contributing 4 times as much as the other, 400% more, yet only consuming the same resources. You could suggest that is fair, the UK Parliament doesn’t do ‘fair’ to me equal. So what is a fair share?
I personally don’t believe that personal allowances or subsidies suggest fairness, they are the fudges because the UK Parliament got it wrong in the first place and wanted to play the Socialist ideology game. Use tax as a mind manipulation plan. Steve Wozniak years ago was able to show that if everyone and everything was taxed at just 2.5%, without all the other ego type fluff then the tax revenue would be simpler, less costly to collect and actual greater amount. Then think about it, everyone is contributing equally and fairly.
The UK Parliaments has saddled the Country with corrupting over burdening structures that have nothing to do with equally opportunity, equal contribution – just very person political ideology to create a society in ones own image. Think NutZero what will it achieve that wouldn’t happen at less cost? Political extremists in our midsts are crippling our future
July 19, 2026
+1
July 18, 2026
Telegraph Headline – ‘Burnham plans to hand income tax powers to Labour mayors’
‘Labour Mayors’? more gerrymandering coming!
Part of the devolving of power?
Then in the same breath he want the unelected unaccountable bureaucrats in the EU to control, manage and rule the UK. Why do we need a UK Parliament, a Government ‘a PM’?
The UK Parliament, its predecessors, its 650MPs ‘own’ this mess. Their ‘ego’ triumphing over common sense
July 18, 2026
I have a dilemma. Do I put by a battle fund for a care home, which might never be used because I go to sleep in my own house one day and don’t wake up? Then the battle fund just goes into my inheritance for the government to take a chunk. On the other hand, I might develop MS or Parkinsons and the battle fund gets used up before the need has expired and I’m left with budget care.
The answer should be insurance. For example, stipulate the tax free element of a pension pot has to be invested in a care home package, then optional top up premiums thereafter to meet increasing care home costs.
No insurance, then the individual pays, or the family. If they can’t pay, the charities take over. Relieve the council of the cost of those who spent all the money they ever had and didn’t put by for their old age.
July 18, 2026
Lord John makes a good case for the elderly regarding social care.
However, politicians of all persuasions appear to think that social care is all about the elderly which is far from the truth. Many adult people with disabilities who require social care on a 7 day 24 hour basis are not mentioned at all by politicians as evidenced by their rhetoric, media reporting and sheer ignorance of the dire straits facing this important group of people. Where are the political advocates for social care for disabled people? Why do successive governments pour billions into the NHS that is wasted without recognising that social care has a fundamental role to play in keeping our people safe and cared for at a much lower cost than the billions wasted on propping up a failing NHS.
July 18, 2026
My daughter applied to Stirling University some years ago and was told if you are Scottish or from the EU your university course will be free. But because you are from England you will have to pay. Successive governments have poured billions of English taxes in a vain attempt to keep Scotland in the union. The Scots continue to bleat for independence. We should let them go it alone and withdraw our funding completely. Where is the fairness in Scots using English taxpayers money to fund free social care for the elderly and free university places for their people.
July 18, 2026
Some Scottish universities have reduced the amount of Scottish students they allow, because univesities are short of money, and need the paying students to balance the books.
July 18, 2026
The reform party has come up with an idea for saving taxpayers’ money. Mr tice, presumably shortly to become its leader, has proposed confiscating all the assets of Thames Water from the shareholders and creditors for £1. Why do we read that reform are a ‘right wing’ party?
July 18, 2026
My brother and I also had to sell my Mother’s flat to fund her three years in a care home. We had just over a year’s fees left when she died. If she had lived and that money had gone, we would have had no choice but to put her in a council-subsidised care home. In contrast, our grandmother lived with us in the 1950s, and I don’t even know if there were care homes in those days.
The root cause of this problem is overtaxation resulting from excessive government spending. If the government took a lot less, but we were all clear that meant we had to provide for ourselves and our families, we would have a fairer system. I doubt anyone, married and with children, on less than £50k a year has anything left over to provide for care in old age and a decent pension.
July 18, 2026
Labour’s solution to the elderly care “problem” is the right to die.
I understand that, this month, Labour MP Lauren Edwards reintroduced the legislation to the Commons.
July 19, 2026
If the ‘right to die’, which when you think about is an absurd phrase, will be both expanded and incentivised, as in Canada.
July 18, 2026
I do agree that parents are under no obligation to pass substantial wealth on to children and family members although many desire to do so.
But I do wonder if, at the back of all this, is a socialist desire to destroy any possibility of inheritance from family members who have been lucky enough to have kept their homes and not needed a care home.
Maybe Labour will tax all deaths to the hilt to pay for universal social care. Bad luck kids, you really will be on your own unless mum and dad have already set you up well in advance.
July 18, 2026
This is a rare example of you being out of tune with conservative voters Sir John.
People think it is not right that people who have worked and saved all their lives end up the same as those who have not.
It’s like the state pension. Our reward for paying NI for at least 35 years is just 3 quid a week more than those on the Pension Credit means tested benefit, and may never have worked a day in their lives.
Most Brits think there should be clear rewards for playing the game in the right way. Instead they are fleeced to pay for those who have not.
I don’t know why those in government circles can never understand this point.
July 18, 2026
KB
True, it re-enforces the “Why Bother” argument.
July 19, 2026
The Conservatives proposed capping at £86,000 the total amount anyone would be expected to pay for care. Without such a cap, Boris Johnson referred to the “catastrophic” consequences for people’s savings. Teresa May had earlier shown interest in the problem. However, they did not implement this.
July 19, 2026
Difficult one this as I think those of us who have saved and bought our own homes and a bit of money on side for emergencies should do with it what we like and responsibly that is look after our own needs. Children are given to you to love and educate and then look after themselves with a little help along the line. They are not entitled to everything you own and I have often said that I wished my parents, who did not need care thank goodness, had not left me their house as I have my own and that is enough to care for. What you do is up to you and I am trying to leave any money my parents left to charities they would have been glad to contribute to. This is difficult as one has to make sure the charities are not on the make so it is a big problem. However, both of my parents had similar views on who was worthy in society so it has been made more easy for me.