Social care, inflation and housing: this morning’s paper review

I appeared bright and early on Sky News’ Sunrise paper review this morning to give my take on a range of the top issues of the day. Here are a few in case you missed it:

Social Care

It has been revealed that half a million vulnerable over 80s who are unable to carry out routine functions like showering and getting dressed are receiving no social care support.

Social Care has been firmly back on the agenda recently, with many of the parties pledging to inject some much needed cash into the system. But a more fundamental re-assessment of the model is needed.

Britain’s social care is a leaky bucket — 29p in every pound is wasted on profit-making investors. I argued for a 5% cap on rates of return for social care investors, as well as government support for local councils to develop small-scale, personalised providers in order to create local care networks which would be able to deliver the best quality care.

Inflation

Latest figures show that inflation is at almost a 4‑year high, currently standing at 2.7%. This is part of a triple squeeze on households, with the rise in living costs compounded by stagnating wages and growing household debt. Low-income households will feel the squeeze as people are forced to take out high cost loans to pay for basics like bills and food.

Government action is urgently needed to protect struggling households across the country — with greater efforts to raise wages and reduce reliance on consumer debt.

Housing — and avocados

Australian millionaire and property mogul Tim Gurner has hit headlines this week for his suggestion that young people cannot afford to buy a house due to wasting money on expensive food such as avocado on toast. This masks the reality of a broken housing and land market, in which houses are increasingly been seen as opportunities for investment rather than as homes for people. Young people in particular are being priced out of the market not due to their profligate spending habits, but as a result of a system which sees property on average earn more than people. No amount of cost-cutting on avocados is going to solve this crisis!

See below for a short clip of me discussing the election polls:

https://​youtu​.be/​8​2​x​P​a​w​CCA04