Norman Tebbitt writes in The Daily Telegraph
It is encouraging that over the last week or so there seems to be a developing agreement that the problem of providing for our increasing numbers of dependent elderly and disabled people must be resolved through a bi-partisan consensus.
The guiding principle of the NHS has from its birth been that health care would be available free of charge to all regardless of the ability to pay. Apart from minor nibbles at that principle, such as prescription charges, it has remained unchanged for 60 years. However, alongside the NHS there has been a growth in social services mostly delivered through local authorities. These, particularly the provision of care at home, or in care homes, for the elderly and disabled unable to care for themselves and needing more care than friends or relatives could, or are willing to provide, have become increasingly means tested.
Now it seems that such care will be available free at the point of delivery only to those unable to pay. Those with any assets will have to pay until they are virtually exhausted and they join the ranks of the “unable to pay”.
But what of those suffering from a degenerative ailment such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s? Early on, treatment is free. But when the sufferer is unable to care for themselves and has no one at home able and willing to care for them it seems that the days of free treatment are over. Care is means-tested.
To extend the free at point of delivery principle would be hugely expensive and of course funding is an important part of the problem, but it is a lot more far-reaching than that.
Obviously the increase in life expectancy is a major part of the problem, which makes the fuss about raising the retirement age to 70 look pretty silly. It is not only economically sensible for us to continue to generate wealth for a long as possible, but working for as long as we can is better for us that sitting about at home. After all, this retirement thing has always been something of a breadwinner’s and therefore a male affair, whilst the home makers, more usually women, carry on working for as long as they can.
Another social change which has worsened the problem of providing care is the increase in family breakdown and the decline in marriage. Partnerships, whether informal or formally entered into, tend to be less long-lasting than marriages have been. Many people enter a number of partnerships, whilst not many of us are serial marryers.
When we enter a marriage we acquire parents-in-law. The expression “’in law” is important. It carries an implication of an extension of the contract between the generations across family lines. The expression “’he is my father-in-law”, or “she is my daughter-in-law” carries a sense of an obligation of social solidarity which is not so easily conveyed by the expression, “she is the mother of my partner”’, let alone “he is my daughter’s partner”.
Norman Tebbit
Lord Tebbit of Chingford is one of Britain’s most outspoken conservative commentators and politicians. He was a senior cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government and is a former Chairman of the Conservative Party. He has also worked in journalism, publishing, advertising and was a pilot in the RAF and British Overseas Airways.