Labour Lord attacks PM's care plans
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Labour peer Lord Lipsey has attacked Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s plans to offer free care at home to the eldery claiming it is “one of the most irresponsible acts to be put forward by a prime minister in recent history”.
Brown revealed the measure, which aims to help 400,000 of the neediest people and is understood to be a key plank of his re-election strategy, during yesterday’s Queen’s Speech.
But Lord Lipsey, a former member of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care, told the Times newspaper that the move amounted to “a demolition job on the national budget” because it was poorly targeted and would see the Government footing the bill for unecessary claims made by the well-off.
He said: “I am not looking forward to the night of the next general election but, if the result goes as I expect, one of the consolations will be that one of the most irresponsible acts to be put forward by a prime minister in the recent history of this country will be swept away with his government.”.
Lipsey accused the Government of perpetuating a “pernicious myth” that people are better cared for in their own homes than in nursing homes and said the plans threatened to undo current work on building a system to help those most in need of care.
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