Tories challenged to come clean on their plan for a ‘Dementia Tax’ and Winter Fuel means test

Labour is
calling on the Tories to come clean on how many pensioners will be hit by their
plans for a dementia tax and means testing for Winter Fuel Payments.

With six
days to go until voting, Theresa May has still not ended the uncertainty facing
millions of pensioners.

Tory
plans to scrap universal Winter Fuel Payments could hit as many as 10.8 million
pensioners, according to a Labour analysis of Pension Credit data.

Meanwhile,
the Tories are still refusing to give a figure for the cap they will put on
their dementia tax, the name given to their plan to force people to pay for
social care with their homes.

An
analysis by the Labour Party shows the effect of the Tory dementia
tax on older people living in a house worth the average UK price of £217,500 if
the cap is set at £72,000 or £100,000 and they find they need home care at the
capped level.

At a cap
of £100,000, a person in this situation needing the capped amount of care would
lose 42 percent of the value of their estate. The more someone’s house is
worth, the lower the percentage they would lose.

Labour
has set out its pledges to older people – maintaining the triple-lock on state
pensions to protect incomes, investing £37 billion into the NHS and £8 billion
into social care over the next parliament and protecting Winter Fuel Payments
and free bus passes.

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the
Labour Party,
commenting on this analysis, said:

“It is staggering that just six
days from polling day millions of pensioners still don’t know what’s in store
for them if they are unlucky enough to get dementia or any other condition that
needs care in the home.

“The dementia tax is itself unfair
but what’s made matters even worse is the way Theresa May announced a cap and
then failed to say how much it would be.

“Alongside this, older people face
the additional uncertainty of not knowing who will be eligible for a Winter
Fuel Payment. The introduction of a means test could mean more than ten million
people losing the payment.

“Theresa May’s only offer to
pensioners is insecurity and cuts. Labour will stand up for older people by
maintaining the triple-lock on state pensions, investing £8 billion into social
care over the next parliament and protecting winter fuel payments and free bus
passes.”