Free social care for older or disabled people

As the BBC reports:

The Liberal Democrats say free personal care would be offered to older or disabled people at home, if they were the government.

Leader Sir Ed Davey says this pledge, plus raising care workers’ pay, would end the hospital crisis and help people stay in their own homes.

Plans would be funded by reversing tax cuts given to big banks by the Conservatives, he said, covering the estimated £2.7bn cost by 2028-29.

Ed’s own role as a carer featured heavily in his interview with ITV, producing this response from former Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson:

Here is an extract from that interview:

And there was a more fun photo opportunity for the policy launch too:

The Guardian rather liked it all:

The Guardian view on social care: the Lib Dems have a plan. It should be welcomed.

Good for the Liberal Democrats. Sir Ed Davey’s campaign pledge that his party would, if elected, fund free social care at home is the most significant policy announcement so far in a crucial area. The past 14 years have not been short of social policy failures. But the Conservatives’ lack of action on care is one of the most egregious. This is an issue they should have taken a lead on. Instead they have made promises, only to break them.