Tag Archives: hospice care

We need to talk about the end of life

We need to talk about how the UK supports its growing number of older people, and in particular about the end of life. One of the many weaknesses of British politics is that its structure does not make it easy to link related issues, But the age of retirement, pensions for the elderly, the rising proportion of the NHS budget spent on those over 70, the cost of drugs, social care, palliative care, and the debate over assisted dying, are all interlinked – above all by the pressures they all put (now and potentially) on the UK budget.

The problem of providing and funding long-term care for the elderly was grasped by (Liberal Democrat minister) Stephen Williams during the coalition government, but weakly supported by Conservatives and opposed by the Labour opposition.

Theresa May as Prime Minister tried again to address the balance between private and public funding of long-term care, only for Labour to attack it as a ‘Death Tax.’ Since then care provision has drifted and costs have risen. The dominance of the private sector has grown as many cash-strapped local authorities have sold off their care homes, as charities have retreated from the sector and private equity has bought into it – driving up what Councils have to pay and holding down carers’ wages. Enterprising private providers have built retirement villages and apartment blocks for the well-to-do, but there is little new provision for poorer retirees. Local Council budgets are now weighed down by social care costs to the exclusion of other needs.

Right-wing attacks on the size of Britain’s welfare budget have omitted to mention that nearly 60% of welfare spending now goes on pensions: 8% of GDP, up from 2% after World War 2 as life expectancy has risen. When Lloyd George introduced old-age pensions, less than half the population lived long enough to benefit. Many of us now draw our pensions for 25 years or more, and medical advances will continue to lengthen life expectancy (and increase what the NHS spends on elderly people).

Liberal Democrats in the coalition government were proud of our commitment to the ‘triple lock’ on pensions. 15 years of pensions rising faster than inflation have shrunk pensioner poverty and enriched those also benefitting from post-employment pensions (like me). The case for ending the triple lock is strong – although the temptation for opposition parties to oppose the government doing so may still be stronger. The case for increasing taxes on better-off pensioners is even stronger; we benefit from a range of financial concessions but pay a lower rate of taxation than those in employment – because we no longer pay national insurance. But there’s little chance that Reform and the Conservatives, the parties of older people, would accept the logic of any increase, faced with the wrath that the Mail and the Telegraph would unleash.

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16 October 2025 – today’s press releases

  • Lib Dems say China witness statements raise “more questions” than they answer and call for statutory inquiry
  • Hospices: Govt must reverse NI hike to deliver real change
  • GDP growth: Govt must kickstart growth and “quit slowcoach approach”
  • Lib Dems: Summon US ambassador over secretive meetings with Farage on rolling back women’s rights in UK
  • If China is a “daily threat” then “insane” not to cancel super-embassy, say Lib Dems
  • Chinese embassy plan must be “put out of its misery”

Lib Dems say China witness statements raise “more questions” than they answer and call for statutory inquiry

Responding to the Government publishing evidence regarding the collapsed China spy case, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Calum Miller MP, said:

These witness statements are only part of the puzzle and raise yet more unanswered questions.

Did emphasising the government’s desire for a positive relationship with China effectively cause this trial to collapse? What evidence was the CPS requesting which the government failed to provide?

And who was aware of these statements and the evidence being asked for both among ministers and in Number 10?

We clearly need a statutory public inquiry to get to the bottom of this whole fiasco.

Hospices: Govt must reverse NI hike to deliver real change

Commenting on the Government’s announcement on hospice funding, Liberal Democrat Care and Carers spokesperson Alison Bennett MP said:

While this announcement goes some way to help children’s hospices, it entirely ignores the profound issues in funding adult hospices. The Government must go much further to deliver the real change hospices are crying out for.

For starters, to have any chance of tackling this ticking time bomb, the Government must reverse their cruel National Insurance hike that cost hospices £34 million last year, and make sure funding keeps pace with local need.

For too long, the vital role played by hospices in our health and care system has been overlooked. The Liberal Democrats are campaigning to save the nation’s hospices. Everybody should have access to the very best palliative care, and to dignity at the end of life. This will never happen while government ministers are burying their heads in the sand.

GDP growth: Govt must kickstart growth and “quit slowcoach approach”

Responding to the news that GDP only grew by 0.1% in August, Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, said:

Today’s figures show the economy climbing slower than a sloth under a government simply not doing enough to kickstart growth.

The Chancellor must quit her slowcoach approach to the economy and finally drop her damaging national insurance hike, which has stifled business and hit high streets up and down the country.

The Government must take today’s news as a wakeup call and put an ambitious growth plan front and centre of their Budget later this Autumn – starting with a bespoke new UK-EU customs union which would unleash the potential of British exporters to trade more easily with our European neighbours.

Lib Dems: Summon US ambassador over secretive meetings with Farage on rolling back women’s rights in UK

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to summon the US Ambassador to explain why the US embassy in London held secretive talks with Nigel Farage on rolling back women’s rights and online safety laws in the UK.

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9 May 2025 – today’s press releases

  • Andrew Bailey right that the UK must urgently rebuild trade with Europe
  • UK-US trade deal: Starmer must rule out “massive tax breaks” for Musk
  • Rennie visits Children’s hospice helped by Scot Lib Dem budget deal

Andrew Bailey right that the UK must urgently rebuild trade with Europe

Responding to the Governor of the Bank of England’s comments that the UK now needs to “rebuild” Britain’s trade relationship with the EU, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said:

Andrew Bailey has today added his voice to what Liberal Democrats have been saying for years: that we urgently need to rebuild our trading relationship with our closest and most significant economic partners in Europe.

This isn’t about revisiting the past, it’s about boosting our economy and deepening cooperation for the future. Despite the Government’s US deal, Trump’s trade tariffs are still hitting key British industries and threatening the livelihoods of people across the UK.

The Government must embrace a pragmatic and ambitious approach to our relationship with the EU – cutting red tape and providing a vital boost for our businesses.

UK-US trade deal: Starmer must rule out “massive tax breaks” for Musk

Responding to reporting that the UK has not ruled out a tech deal as part of future trading negotiations with the US, Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Treasury Spokesperson, said:

Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , and | 17 Comments
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