Tony Lloyd slams "cruel" dementia tax

Tony Lloyd

Tony Lloyd has hit out at Conservative plans that will force people to pay for their care in old age with their homes.

Mr Lloyd, Labour's candidate for Rochdale in the general election, said: "For the first time, the Conservatives have included the value of someone's home in calculating how much they pay.

"Even the embarrassing U-turn by Teresa May on her 'Dementia Tax' did not remove homes from the calculation - only that they 'might' introduce a cap on total payments in the future, but she has refused to say just how much that is.

"Many people I have spoken to are worried sick. They are appalled that when they die, their home will be sold to pay off huge care debts. Despite working hard and saving all their lives, they will have nothing to pass on to their children and grandchildren. This really is a mean tax.

"The Tories are so out of touch. The pledge put forward by the Tories just shows how deaf to our community they are and out of touch with the scale of the care crisis.

"Seven years of the Tories and the funding crisis in social care is at breaking point. I am appalled that their solution is to target those who have paid into the system all their lives, through hard work. Now they want people to either sell off their home, where they have lived almost all their lives and raised their family, otherwise left to fend for themselves - unacceptable."

Health Charity, the King's Fund has called the plans "deeply disappointing" and conservative Think Tank the Bow Group has called them the "biggest stealth tax in history". The Nuffield Trust said that the proposals on social care are "not a long term solution".