The nasty party is back: the more you need, the more you pay with May

The Liberal Democrats have responded to proposals in the Conservative manifesto to abandon a cap on care costs and take away free school meals for infant children, saying this shows the "nasty party is back."

Liberal Democrat Election Campaign Spokesperson Ed Davey commented:

"It is clear the more you need, the more you pay with May. Theresa May is betraying working families by snatching school lunches from their children and their homes when they die. The nasty party is back - hitting families from cradle to grave.

"The choices she's made in her manifesto will hurt over half a million frail elderly people and almost 2 million children.

"The Liberal Democrats will stand up to Theresa May's cold, mean-spirited Britain, protecting those that need the most help and fighting for more funding for our schools and hospitals."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb, who secured a commitment to a cap on care costs as Care Minister, commented:

"Elderly people the length of Britain will shudder at these care cost proposals.

"Many elderly people currently will face the cruel situation of having to sell their home when they die to fund residential care home costs.

"Now the frail and elderly receiving care in their own home will face what is a 'Personal Death Tax' charged against their home. And the more help you need, the more Theresa May will snatch away when you die.

'The cost of at home care currently met by the state will now be clawed back from estates after death, hitting over half a million vulnerable people. It's clear that if you get old and frail, the costs are down to you and you alone.'

Nick Clegg commented:

"By snatching those meals away and forcing families to pay hundreds of pounds per year for school lunches Theresa May will hit low-income working families the hardest.

"So much for helping the 'just about managing.' MPs will need to vote in the next Parliament to undo the legislation we passed to provide infants with free meals under the Coalition.

"Every Conservative candidate in every constituency must now come clean: will they troop through the lobbies to take away free lunches from the children of hard-pressed families? Or will they have the decency and courage to stop the Conservatives from becoming the party of lunch snatchers?"

Home snatcher

• For the first time, many people who receive care at home will have their home taken into account, to meet the costs when they die.
• This will apply to over half a million people who receive domiciliary care
• Currently home care is means-tested, meaning for many people the costs are met by the local authority
• The Tory plans mean everyone will contribute if the value of their assets, including their home, is over £100k
• The Tories have failed to introduce a cost cap for care - as Care Minister Norman Lamb passed the enabling legislation but the Tories have not acted on it (it was intended to be £72,000)
• The Dilnot Report estimates one in 10 pensioners (at 65) future care needs will £100,000 so Theresa May will snatch back their care costs from their estates
• The Tories promised a cap in their 2015 manifesto

Questions the Tories have to answer:

• Won't this unfairly penalise those who, through no fault of their own, have higher care needs - for instance the 850,000 people with dementia in the UK?
• Andrew Dilnot said the majority of people receiving care in their own homes, rather than in residential care, "will find themselves worse off" - do they agree?
• What estimate have they made of the number of homes which will have to be sold after the owner dies, to re-pay care costs?
• Have they made any estimate of how this might change the cost of care in the home? Will this be a green light for providers to ramp up their prices?
• They say surviving spouses can stay on in homes - what about partners, children and other family members?

Lunch Snatcher

• Theresa May is snatching back free school lunches from 1.9 million children
• Currently the government subsidises lunches for infants by £2.30 - these changes will mean removing £480 subsidy per child, per year.
• For a family with two children under 7 (in year 2 and below) this will cost £1000 a year
• The level of savings (£650m) shows that they expect the take up of breakfast to be low - when the policy was launched by the Liberal Democrats the Government allocated £635m
• This is a betrayal of working families. Theresa May shows she and the Tories are not on their side; means-tested families will still get free school meals but those who don't qualify will have to meet these costs
• In fact, it is anti-work by creating another cost facing parents going back into work
• 4 in 10 children in poverty in 2014, when this policy was introduced by the coalition, did not receive means-tested schools. They will lose out again
• It is a breach of last Conservative manifesto commitment just 2 years ago to keep them

Questions the Tories have to answer:

• How many children do you expect to eat the free breakfast?
• How many children in poverty that don't qualify for means-tested free school meals will be affected?
• How much are they allocating to free breakfasts? What is that per meal per child?
• How much have they allocated for longer school opening hours? For extra staff?
• Do they intend to apply nutritional standards for breakfast?
• Will breakfast include choice for a hot meal (as the free school lunches are a hot meal)?