BORIS TURNS UP THE HEAT PM’s dementia ultimatum

Johnson challenges Corbyn to help solve social care crisis ‘for the good of the nation’

BORIS Johnson laid down the gauntlet to Jeremy Corbyn on social care yesterday – challenging him to work on a cross-party deal to fix the crisis.

As the pair clashed for the first time in the Commons, the new Prime Minister said the Tories and Labour needed to build consensus in order to end the scandal which sees people having to sell their homes to pay for care in old age.

But Mr Johnson warned that if Labour refused to play ball, the Conservatives would come up with their own plan to fix the issue.

Mr Johnson vowed in Downing Street on Wednesday that he would protect the elderly from the fear of ‘ having to sell your home to pay for the costs of care’. he said his team had drawn up plans to ‘fix’ the social care crisis ‘once and for all’.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister came under intense pressure to publish these plans – as an expert told him it would cost just £5 billion a year.

Sir Andrew Dilnot, the economist who drew up plans for a cap on care costs eight years ago, called for a state- backed insurance scheme to end the risk that people face catastrophic bills. A similar scheme was floated by health Secretary Matt hancock during the Tory leadership campaign.

Yesterday, Mr Johnson was asked by a Labour MP whether he would give social care an immediate cash injection as well as long-term funding reform. Liz Kendall, a former shadow health minister, said: ‘Above all, it means deciding that funding cannot be left to individuals and families alone.

‘We must pool our resources and share our risks to ensure security and dignity for all.’

Mr Johnson replied: ‘I agree very strongly with the thrust of what she says.

‘I suggest it is high time that this house again tried to work across parties to find a cross-party consensus about the way forward. That is absolutely vital. If the Opposition are not interested, we will fix it ourselves, but I urge them to think of the good of the nation.’

Both parties have failed to tackle the issue of social care for more than 20 years, despite strings of promises. In 2011, Sir Andrew published a government-backed report demanding a lifetime cap on the amount people have to pay for their care, but his suggestions were never implemented.

Yesterday he told the Radio 4 Today programme that elderly people were ‘frightened’ about the care costs they face. Sir Andrew said money was not the problem – the issue was political will. Previous prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May had not thrown their weight behind the need for social care reform.

But he warned that the country did not need ‘another wheeze’.

Sir Andrew said: ‘I’m delighted to see it being taken very seriously – the problems of social care are great, they’ve been listed as essential to be solved by most recent governments, and we haven’t ended up doing anything.

‘So it’s good to see that it’s being discussed and there’s a commitment here, but until we see what is actually proposed, we can’t really assess whether it will be an effective way of doing it. ‘We don’t need another wheeze.’ Former Lib Dem care minister norman Lamb said: ‘The Government has been talking about social care reform for far too long. Action is what’s long overdue.

‘And tinkering with the current flawed, dysfunctional system, which lets too many older people down, won’t do.

‘We need a new settlement to guarantee decent support when you need it. And the Prime Minister needs to be prepared to work on a cross-party basis if we are to secure a lasting settlement.’

ROADS melted. Rails buckled. Ruckuses broke out as Englishmen (and women) lost their cool in the midday sun.

As the nation sweltered on the second warmest day on record, Boris Johnson found himself in another hothouse: The fevered intensity of the Commons chamber.

After being crowned on Wednesday, this was the mercurial blond bombshell’s prime ministerial debut. Did he lower the political temperature? Indisputably not.

Indeed, the attacks by his opponents are increasingly unhinged. For promising to respect our biggest ever democratic mandate and deliver Brexit by October 31, with or without a deal, he is damned as a sub-Trumpian racist and misogynist.

It is anybody’s guess how Mr Johnson’s rabid detractors square these venomous accusations with the evidence of his Cabinet. Have they not noticed it matches Tony Blair’s total for the highest number of women at the top table is the most ethnically diverse in British history? Did his Commons performance change the political mood? Undoubtedly.

It was electrifying, florid and fizzing with energy, optimism and resolve. His pride in Britain unabashed, he insists we are on the brink of a ‘golden age’. After three stultifying years of doom and gloom, this was a heady, intoxicating brew.

In an atmosphere of shrill rowdiness, Boris wiped the floor with Jeremy Corbyn, who resorted to asking – absurdly – if the Tories planned to reinstate the death penalty.

He skewered the Labour leader for kowtowing to the mullahs of Iran, ruinous Marxist tax and spend commitments that would torpedo the British economy and being ‘reprogrammed’ as a Remainer.

Meanwhile in Brussels, EU negotiators are horrified that Mr Johnson has fired the starting gun on No Deal. Of course, he believes an agreement can be struck. Certainly, that would be best for all sides.

But unless Michel Barnier et al scrap the deeply unpopular Irish backstop, he’s adamant he will walk away.

With the sclerotic bloc at risk of tipping into recession, and confronting the loss of a £39billion divorce bill, wouldn’t its leaders be wise to consider offering concessions?

Reality dictates that Britain must leave in the autumn. Failure to do so would provoke a catastrophic loss of confidence in UK politics and sound the death knell for the Tory Party. Mr Johnson has always been a star performer. But success is about executing policies, not just deploying rhetorical flourishes. Tough challenges lie ahead.

However, he can take heart that the Labour benches have rarely looked so glum. Buoyed by a string of eye-catching initiatives, the Tories can head into the summer holidays with their tails up. DURING his first hours in Downing Street, Mr Johnson has made very encouraging noises about fixing the social care scandal. This is welcome. It is disgraceful that vulnerable people have to spend their savings or sell their homes to pay care bills because they have the misfortune to suffer dementia. But every prime minister for two decades has promised action. Then, shamefully, not acted. Rest assured, if Mr Johnson wavers on righting this terrible unfairness, the Mail will not hesitate to hold his feet to the fire. BEYOND Brexit and social care, Mr Johnson has a long to-do list: Policing, schools funding and Iran to name but a few pressing problems. To those, could he add delivering justice for the victims of the blood contamination scandal of the 1970s and 1980s, in which at least 3,000 have died of Aids and hepatitis? Survivors of the tainted NHS transfusions, and bereaved families, have now written to him demanding proper compensation. Many live in penury, hand to mouth. They were harmed by the state. They should not be abandoned.