Social care no-show by MPs diminishes their reputations – Tom Richmond

Perhaps I’m naive but I expected a reasonable attendance in the House of Commons when Gillian Keegan, the Care Minister, announced the strategy on Wednesday less than an hour after the Prime Minister’s Questions bun-fight.

Social care plan neglects staffing crisis as MPs snub Commons statement – The Yorkshire Post says

After all, the policy paper contains the supposed measures that will be funded by the NHS levy on National Insurance that was passed by Parliament in September, and then the subsequent £86,000 cap on costs, so Boris Johnson could say that he’d “got social care done”.

My initial instinct is that the proposals do not address sufficiently the sector’s staffing crisis – it appears to be a start, a political sticking plaster, and little more, but I’m willing to be proved wrong.

Yet what was disconcerting is that there appeared to be no more than 30 or so MPs present for a statement on an issue that affects tens of thousands of families in all 650 Parliamentary constituencies. What were they doing that was more important?

In fairness, three Yorkshire MPs did participate in proceedings, and it’s only fair to recognise their diligence.

Labour’s Clive Betts, the Sheffield South East MP who chairs the select committee which scrutinises local government, asked why there was no new money available “to improve the pay and conditions of the workforce, without which we will carry on getting churn”.

Paul Blomfield, Labour MP for Sheffield Central, made this point: “Does today’s statement not show that when the Prime Minister promised a plan to fix social care, all he ever had in mind was an asset protection scheme for the wealthier, paid for by the many who would never benefit from it?”

And Tory Kevin Hollinrake, who represents Thirsk and Malton, asked if Ministers had considered “the German system, not least because of its greater focus on domiciliary care and on personal budgets, which allow people, instead of relying on the professional workforce, to pay a loved one or a neighbour to provide their care”.

Even Chris Grayling – remember him? – took part, but his question was more to do with visiting arrangements at Christmas rather than the wider substance of the reform measures.

But the abiding image was the empty benches and the prickliness of the exchanges when Dame Eleanor Laing, the Deputy Speaker, rebuked one backbencher for addressing the “Minister” instead of “Honourable Lady” and then Keegan herself for not following protocol with one of her responses.

It’s no way to run a Parliament. It’s also no way to develop a social care policy. But do most MPs care – or are they content for the needs of the most vulnerable to be left to chance? They only have themselves to blame if voters conclude the latter.

SIR Keir Starmer’s reshuffle probably even took the Labour leader by surprise because he now has a Shadow Cabinet with many of the party’s most effective communicators in key roles.

Yet, while it took two shake-ups this year alone to overhaul the Opposition front bench, the greater test will come when Labour starts formulating policy ahead of the next election – attacking Ministers for incompetence will not suffice on its own.

And while Starmer says Labour is now committed to making Brexit work, this will require a major volte-face on the part of Pontefract and Castleford MP Yvette Cooper – the new Shadow Home Secretary – and David Lammy who has taken on the foreign affairs role.

Despite being a widely-respected Home Affairs Select Committee chair, Cooper is still renowned for her opposition to Brexit – one reason why her once safe seat is now a marginal – while Lammy has been withering on the issue.

In one Commons debate, he said: “Brexit is a con by multi-millionaires to convince the poor that the metropolitan middle class has screwed them.”

Just how Starmer, and his inner circle, reconcile Brexit will be one of the significant factors that determines the outcome of the next election.

THE impressionist Rory Bremner was on top form when I caught up with him at an annual lunch to honour the legendary horse racing commentator Sir Peter O’Sullevan.

His latest pièce de résistance – after a brilliant take on the PM’s ‘Peppa Pig’ speech to the CBI – was an inspired O’Sullevan commentary in which every horse was named after a mishap, or scandal, to befell Boris Johnson.

Yet Bremner said to me – in all seriousness – that coming up with new material for his sketches was becoming more of a challenge because the daily absurdities that occur in the Downing Street comedy club make it harder to separate fact from satire and comedy.

On second thoughts, would anyone notice the difference if Bremner replaced Johnson for the day? Probably not.

I NOTE that Pep Guardiola said his Manchester City squad was facing an ‘emergency’ this week ahead of its 2-1 away win at Aston Villa due to illness and injury in his no expense spared Premier League squad.

Respectfully, I would suggest an ‘emergency’ is all those households who have been left without power for up to a week in the aftermath of Storm Arwen – including the elderly and housebound.

Not only were many misled by Northern Powergrid repeatedly over the restoration of supplies, but Government ministers declined requests to brief Parliament on the response until they were compelled to do so on Wednesday.

For those still battling both the elements and officialdom now, that is an emergency...

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