Winter fuel payment 'an anomaly in our welfare system'
Former care minister, Lib Dem MP Paul Burstow, has called for means-tested winter fuel payments to help pay for elderly care costs
Writing in the Guardian, he said the current system is an "unfair lottery that leaves the exposed to huge care costs".
The winter fuel payment is an anomaly in our welfare system.
By earmarking this money for something else we stop those funds disappearing into the Treasury coffers and divert them into the pockets of older people in desperate need of care.
If we are serious about sorting out the biggest unaddressed social issue of our time, the money has to come from somewhere. This is the fairest way to get "something for something" instead of something for nothing. After all, I'm making these proposals because I want end the care lottery that sees people lose their assets, their homes and their dignity.
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