YP Comment: Backlash over '˜dementia tax'. Election reveals care conundrum

“No,” said Damian Green before pointing out that the Conservatives intend, if re-elected, to publish separate Green Papers this summer on the inter-related subjects of elderly care and the NHS because of the prevailing need for a closer alignment when it comes to the provision of services.

Unlike Labour which does not expect to be elected in spite of the party’s increased support in the latest opinion polls, Mr Green, a close confidante of Theresa May, realises that it will almost certainly fall to his party to come up with a long-term funding formula that takes account of Britain’s ageing society and increasing number of people struck down with dementia and other debilitating conditions.

It’s a task made more difficult by previous party leaders effectively ‘bribing’ pensioners, the demographic most assiduous when it comes to voting, with policies like the winter fuel discount.

Yet, as politics is turned on its head, it is the Tories, the supposed party of the rich, who are proposing to deny this allowance to wealthier OAPs while Labour, which prides itself on speaking up for the poor, will allow all senior citizens – including multi-millionaires – to receive this entitlement.

This is one area where some specifics from the Conservatives might be helpful – the lack of costings in a manifesto, and some of the logic behind the ‘dementia tax’, is providing Jeremy Corbyn with an electoral gift that he has not earned.

After all, the best insurance policy of all is a strong economy and Mr Corbyn’s wishlist, however appealing, will – in all likelihood – lead to entrepreneurs and wealth-creators shunning Britain in significant numbers.

This is still Mrs May’s election to lose – despite the fact that a poll triggered by Brexit has turned into a debate on domestic policy. Yet, in many respects, she deserves credit for being prepared to think the unthinkable during an election campaign and warn the country about the bitter pills that will need to be swallowed over care costs. How ironic that such frankness, at a time when the public are intolerant of politicians who break their promises, could backfire.

Registering to vote

TONIGHT marks one of the more significant election milestones – the deadline for electors to register to vote on June 8. Unlike last year when MPs passed emergency legislation to extend the cut-off point after computers crashed, this option is not possible because Parliament is now dissolved.

Yet this matters. It gives people a say over the future governance of this country. And, contrary to the perception of those who believe their vote can’t make a difference because of the vagaries of Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system, new figures show that the Conservatives could win a majority of more than 100 seats if turnout between young and old voters mirrors the 2015 contest.

Two years ago, only four out of 10 people aged between 18 and 25 voters exercised their right to vote compared to three-quarters of all adults aged over 55. Yet, while this can be explained by the transient lifestyle led by students and younger people before they put down roots of their own, it does not excuse the tardiness of those who leave it to the last minute to register to vote – or don’t bother at all. There’s only so much that Governments, councils and political parties can do when it comes to civic responsibility – and the small matter of completing a simple form once a year.

When will A64 be upgraded?

THERE’S a slight irony in the Yorkshire coast being taken to the Chelsea Flower Show this week, as part of this region’s annual exhibit, when a lack of investment in traffic-clogged roads like the A64 deters many families from visiting resorts like Scarborough.

With no direct mention of ‘tourism’ in the Tory manifesto, it’s even more important that politicians are challenged on infrastructure investment during the remaining two and half weeks of the election. On the campaign trail in York, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the Government is “planning to upgrade the A64” – a promise that needs to be honoured. After all, this entire route would have been upgraded years ago if it was in the south of England because of it strategic economic importance.

Why should North Yorkshire’s rural and coastal communities be treated any differently?