Letter to local newspaper

The Editor
Sheerness Times Guardian (via email)

Dear Sir

I agree with Roger Newbury that too many politicians spend their time in party political bickering, rather than addressing the real issues that affect people.

With Roger’s comments in mind, I will not respond to the letter from Derek Wyatt, which also was published in this week’s Sheerness Times Guardian. Your readers are intelligent enough to make up their own minds whether his attack on me was justified!

Instead, I would like to address a concern raised by Harry Aldridge in one of the other letters printed on the Opinion Page. Harry complained about the poor level of care offered to the elderly and he is right to complain.

There are serious problems with the funding of care for the elderly in this country. I will not go into detail about the failure of successive governments that has left us in the present position. As Harry rightly points out; the important question is what are we going to do in the future to solve the problem?

Let me deal with just one particular aspect of the long term care for the elderly. Currently all the costs of residential care must be met by the individual if that person has assets, including property, worth more than £23,000.

This often means that elderly people, who have worked hard all their lives, and perhaps saved for their future, are forced to sell their homes to pay for their long term care. I know this is something that concerns a lot of Islanders, and not just the elderly.

To help solve this problem a Conservative Government will introduce a voluntary scheme with a one off joining fee, currently estimated at £8,000, paid at the age of 65, in return for a guarantee that for the rest of that person’s life any permanent residential care that was needed would be absolutely free.

This is just one of the Conservative proposals that would make life easier for the elderly. Lack of space prevents me listing the other initiatives, however, if Harry, or anybody else who has a concern about this issue, would like to learn more then I invite them to contact me either via my website www.gordonhenderson.org.uk or by phoning me on 01795 665251.

Yours sincerely

Gordon