You Were Warned

The Glorious Successor has proclaimed that there is "no easy solution" to the problem of care for the elderly, and an underling has duly ruled out the solution that would be easiest for the culprits. There are a great many things for which the Glorious Successor has proclaimed that there is no easy solution; and in this case, as usual, it is clear that the Government's main effort will be in apportioning the difficulties correctly. The Glorious Successor recognised that "helping relatives is a challenge that most families rise to - however difficult it becomes", which is jolly convenient for anyone who has no particular wish to ease such families' burdens. The Glorious Successor was gracious enough to note that the difficulties which families have to overcome don't "make it any easier" to overcome their difficulties. This is certainly true. The Glorious Successor, who as Chancellor of the Exchequer kept the purse-strings loose for Tony's wars (though apparently not loose enough to feed the troops - another triumph of New Labour prioritisation), warned that there is a "funding black hole" of six thousand million pounds in the ever more threadbare social safety net. The Glorious Successor said it was "essential" that people who "worked hard and saved for retirement were treated fairly". Those who cannot afford to save for retirement because of mounting living costs, or who have insufficient investment in the housing market to "sell a treasured home to pay for their own care", are evidently not entitled even to the sort of treatment New New Labour considers fair.

If Margaret Thatcher wins on Thursday, I warn you not to be ordinary, I warn you not to be young, I warn you not to fall ill, and I warn you not to grow old.
Neil Kinnock, 1983