---

Caring for the Elderly

I shall endeavour not to speak for longer than that, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I think that we can all agree that the Government are extremely good at warm words. The Prime Minister stated in his foreword to yesterday's Green Paper on social care:""The way in which our society provides care and support for those who need it, whether in later life of because of disability, should reflect our values of compassion and fairness. In Britain we rightly aspire to a care and support system in which everyone's needs are met and people can live their lives to the full."" But how many older people in this country would recognise the reality of their lives over the past twelve and a half years in those words? Only last year, we had another consultation paper from the Government: "The case for change: why England needs a new care and support system". Its opening paragraph stated:""In a civilised society, we have a moral obligation to ensure that people in need are not left without any care or support."" Yet here we are, a year on, talking about the start of a consultation process. The sad reality for pensioners in Britain in the 21st century is that 2.5 million of them live in poverty. That is about one in five of the pensioners in this country. No Government—especially a Labour Government—should be anything other than deeply ashamed about that. The Commission for Social Care Inspection has estimated that older people are forced to spend £6 billion a year of their own money—often through selling their homes or raiding inheritance funds—in order to pay for their care in retirement. More than 2 million pensioners do not claim money from the benefits and credits system even though they qualify for it. So, whatever the Minister says, I am afraid that the system is not working to address the problem of pensioner poverty.