UK Politics #10

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Ndrangheta said:
I just heard Peter Mandelson described as 'a master of spin'. In plain english that means: 'A professional liar'. I make no judgement on that, if that's what you want to do with your life so be it. I'm just sick of these bullshit terms like 'spin doctor'. :cautious:
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I well remember Mandelson and the days of peak spin. Bad times. But now he's stepped out from the shadows it explains a lot about how brazen "today's labour" have been with things like Rachel From Accounts Complaints' CV "enhancements". I guess he never really went away. Maybe the next reveal will be Blair stepping out from behind the curtain and revealing himself as Sir Keith's puppetmaster all along.
 
kev1974 said:
I well remember Mandelson and the days of peak spin. Bad times. But now he's stepped out from the shadows it explains a lot about how brazen "today's labour" have been with things like Rachel From Accounts Complaints' CV "enhancements". I guess he never really went away. Maybe the next reveal will be Blair stepping out from behind the curtain and revealing himself as Sir Keith's puppetmaster all along.
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Well Starmer did have to phone Blair to ask him what a woman actually was🙄. So it’s no surprise that Mandelson has been dusted off.
 
kev1974 said:
I well remember Mandelson and the days of peak spin. Bad times. But now he's stepped out from the shadows it explains a lot about how brazen "today's labour" have been with things like Rachel From Accounts Complaints' CV "enhancements". I guess he never really went away. Maybe the next reveal will be Blair stepping out from behind the curtain and revealing himself as Sir Keith's puppetmaster all along.
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Hey Rachel from Complaints is the PERFECT person to have in place to “manage expectations following misselling”.

If you know what I mean….😜
 
monga said:
Pete M …Now where have I come across that name before 🤔
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Now actually that WOULD explain an awful lot…..

Both talk often of Farage.

www.bbc.co.uk

Lord Peter Mandelson expected to be named as UK ambassador to US

The former cabinet minister will take on the vital role of building relations with the Trump administration.
www.bbc.co.uk

“Trump had once called Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage a "great choice" for ambassador - but Labour were unlikely to choose a political opponent such as Farage.

Lord Mandelson has suggested making use of Farage's connections in the US as a "bridgehead, both to President Trump and to Elon Musk and others".
"You've got to be pragmatic, practical about this," he said.

Farage has meanwhile said that he "might disagree with Mandelson on his politics, but he's a very intelligent man" and would be good choice for ambassador.”
 
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HoGi said:
They get a social care financial assessment like everyone else and then pay a few pound a week towards care that costs thousands and the rest of the cost is picked up by the tax payer.

We sit on different sides of the fence and will never agree.

Neither of my parents had personal pensions. My mum is 75 and still working. Home owner, mortgage free. Recently downsized following the death of my dad (he had dementia so needed the care you mention)

My parents in law never worked a day in their life, claimed every penny the state would give them and live a very comfortable life in their social housing. My FIL has carers 4 times a day. They pay about £30 a month towards his care.

I have lived experience and I still have zero sympathy for WASPIs and anyone who doesn't plan for retirement.

ETA my mum didn't downsize to pay for dads care. He was awarded continuing health care so his care was paid for by the NHS.
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It's a common misconception that if you have a mortgage free house it automatically is sold to pay for care. It is not. If there is someone still living in the house, like a spouse, then the house isn't touched. That only comes into play when there are no other dependents in the house. My experience is that dementia residential care is usually free.

A family member who is on their own home and mortgage free has care twice a week. They are not a wealthy pensioner though. It's come about because they have lived in the house for 60 years. They are charged £10 a week which, IMO, is amazing. They were assessed and that was deemed fair.

So many scare stories out there.
 
FenellaTheWitch said:
It's a common misconception that if you have a mortgage free house it automatically is sold to pay for care. It is not. If there is someone still living in the house, like a spouse, then the house isn't touched. That only comes into play when there are no other dependents in the house. My experience is that dementia residential care is usually free.

A family member who is on their own home and mortgage free has care twice a week. They are not a wealthy pensioner though. It's come about because they have lived in the house for 60 years. They are charged £10 a week which, IMO, is amazing. They were assessed and that was deemed fair.

So many scare stories out there.
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May only be free in gov run residential facilities ( very short supply) but private nursing homes are very expensive and not all qualify for help with costs, it’s like those just over the threshold for heating allowance it can be a heavy burden trying to supplement longterm care for a partner if your pot of gold isn’t substantial.
 
FenellaTheWitch said:
It's a common misconception that if you have a mortgage free house it automatically is sold to pay for care. It is not. If there is someone still living in the house, like a spouse, then the house isn't touched. That only comes into play when there are no other dependents in the house. My experience is that dementia residential care is usually free.

A family member who is on their own home and mortgage free has care twice a week. They are not a wealthy pensioner though. It's come about because they have lived in the house for 60 years. They are charged £10 a week which, IMO, is amazing. They were assessed and that was deemed fair.

So many scare stories out there.
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BIB I know this as I lived it.

Dementia care is rarely free. So you are totally wrong there.

We were very "fortunate" that my dad's complex care needs that rendered him a shell of himself, meant he was so severely ill he qualified for continuing health care. His dementia caused loss of speech, double incontinence, mood changes which caused aggression, he forgot he needed to wear dentures but wanted to eat so was an aspiration risk and we still had to fight for months to get the right care and sit between the NHS bod and social care arguing as to whether it was a health or social care need.

But yes my point stands, most people with little money will pay very little towards their care. As your own example shows.
 
thegirlscout said:
It’s not - it’s only if you qualify under their very strict guidelines which they often are flexible when denying payment. As someone who had to fight the CCG to get continuing health care for an elderly relative it’s horrendous and cruel what they do.
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It’s an eye opener for sure x there’s also young people that need nursing care that may have a spouse and kids at home it’s not as straightforward as many think, you don’t always have enough saved before your health than take a turn.
 
HoGi said:
BIB I know this as I lived it.

Dementia care is rarely free. So you are totally wrong there.

We were very "fortunate" that my dad's complex care needs that rendered him a shell of himself, meant he was so severely ill he qualified for continuing health care. His dementia caused loss of speech, double incontinence, mood changes which caused aggression, he forgot he needed to wear dentures but wanted to eat so was an aspiration risk and we still had to fight for months to get the right care and sit between the NHS bod and social care arguing as to whether it was a health or social care need.

But yes my point stands, most people with little money will pay very little towards their care. As your own example shows.
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Maybe I worded it wrong. I've lived it too. Twice with currently have a third relative who also has dementia. I probably meant by time the the dementia is so bad or the the persons behaviour becomes dangerous/violent that they have to go into care it has been free. Up until then, the care was not free and put enormous strain on the relative who was the primary carer.
 
HoGi said:
BIB I know this as I lived it.

Dementia care is rarely free. So you are totally wrong there.

We were very "fortunate" that my dad's complex care needs that rendered him a shell of himself, meant he was so severely ill he qualified for continuing health care. His dementia caused loss of speech, double incontinence, mood changes which caused aggression, he forgot he needed to wear dentures but wanted to eat so was an aspiration risk and we still had to fight for months to get the right care and sit between the NHS bod and social care arguing as to whether it was a health or social care need.

But yes my point stands, most people with little money will pay very little towards their care. As your own example shows.
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Only if you’re assessed as such to begin with ,as the fortune dwindles the hoops you have to jump through get longer , it seems to be straight forward in your case but that’s not the same for all .
 
FenellaTheWitch said:
The WASPI women, on the whole, didn't manage their finances properly.
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I disagree with this part of your comment personally.
They were always expected to retire at 60 and thus made financial plans accordingly. This is a cohort of women who were disadvantaged in the workplace already due to the era they were born (many women weren’t allowed to join company pension schemes until the 90s, etc). Women face unique obstacles to building pensions compared to men and have done for decades - they often take time out to have children and look after them, they are the ones who often taken on the burden of being unpaid carers to ill relatives, and on average women outlive men.
The changes were brought in and they didn’t adequately inform women - the government didn’t write to any woman affected by the rise for nearly 14 years after the law was passed in 1995. It was not until 2009 to 2013 that the DWP sent people letters about the 1995 and 2011 changes. And in 2011 the government sped up the pension reforms.
Whilst I understand that the government has hardly any money I think it’s unfair that Kier Starmer and Rachel Reeves supported these women when they were in the opposition yet changed their minds when they got into power. I was the year when the university fees just for England went up and I remember so many of my cohort voting for Lib Dems especially when Nick Clegg signed that he would not raise tuition fees. Seeing him and others then vote to raise the fees felt like a slap in the face and was very disheartening.
 
monga said:
Only if you’re assessed as such to begin with ,as the fortune dwindles the hoops you have to jump through get longer , it seems to be straight forward in your case but that’s not the same for all .
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My parents had nothing. A house yes, but no cash.

I would hardly say 6 years fighting for a diagnosis, a year bed blocking, being sectioned, then going to care home that eventually killed him as they lied about him getting antibiotics straight forward but what do I know 🙄
 
HoGi said:
My parents had nothing. A house yes, but no cash.

I would hardly say 6 years fighting for a diagnosis, a year bed blocking, being sectioned, then going to care home that eventually killed him as they lied about him getting antibiotics straight forward but what do I know 🙄
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Dementia care being free is definitively not a universal truth, I fought for 18 months to get my mother into a home that could cope with her complex needs and not rot in the very basic care that she was offered in a home which was eventually shut due to repeated unsatisfactory grading (mainly for giving the wrong meds). Despite being unable to feed wash, dress or feed herself, being doubly incontinent and unaware of anything around her she repeatedly failed the CHC tests as they deemed her capable of managing without that level of care. She couldn’t and what she was offered left her at danger. I reduced my working hours as much as I could afford so I could fill the gap by acting as an unpaid carer but it was terrible and we were deeply failed by social services with no financial or practical help.
 
HoGi said:
My parents had nothing. A house yes, but no cash.

I would hardly say 6 years fighting for a diagnosis, a year bed blocking, being sectioned, then going to care home that eventually killed him as they lied about him getting antibiotics straight forward but what do I know 🙄
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I meant the funding! Trying to source a social worker to even do an assessment is impossible where I am, decent care is hard to come by as you’ve highlighted above 🙁 I can safely say gov run facilities face tighter regulations than private providers but they’re being phased out out like many other important services.I dread to think what we’ll be facing if we’re unfortunate enough to need care.
 
thegirlscout said:
I worry about needing care when I get older. Palliative care in my part of England is shockingly bad, the care homes are terrible unless you have a fair bit of money. God knows what I will do if I get dementia. I don’t trust this country to care for me, regardless of what government is in power.
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The care sector isn’t sexy enough to get the funding it needs so it’ll never happen, the Lib Dems actually have some good ideas on this but nobody will be listening and in the meantime it just gets worse. I have no faith there will anything for me if I need it in old age and it’s a terrifying thought.
 
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