Press release

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP announced his Party’s new elderly health care policy on a visit to Age Concern in Kingston upon Thames. He pledged to be the first party to propose an end to the “punishing poverty” that results in the elderly paying for care out of their own pockets. He said increased funding for elderly care would end the "scandalous injustice" of older people using their savings to pay for necessary care.

His choice of location, though, seemed to be a cruel joke. In 2007 Lib Dem led Kingston upon Thames Borough Council slashed their eligibility criteria for adult social care services by half, leaving many elderly to have to fund essential basic care through other means. In the same year, they closed Hobkirk House elderly day care centre despite months of pleas, protests and a petition of thousands of signatures from the Conservative Councillors and elderly users of the centre. Last year they also allowed Kingston Primary Care Trust to cut Fuchsias dementia care ward and Springboard - a unique learning centre for adults with learning disabilities. The same Lib Dem Administration also increased charges and introduced means testing for elderly and disabled domiciliary care in 2005.

The Leader of the Opposition on the Royal Borough of Kingston Council, Conservative Councilor Howard Jones said: “This is just another tiresome example of the Liberal Democrats being all bark and no bite. For their Leader to come to our Borough and lecture us on healthcare when their own Liberal Democrat Administration have been the epitome of showing the elderly in our community the ‘scandalous neglect’ that Nick Clegg is preaching about, it is ignorant and irresponsible. A refreshing idea for the Liberal Democrats would be for them to know what is going on within their own Party.”