GENERAL ELECTION: Lib Dem's moving words for his family during debate on social care

The Liberal Democrat candidate for Lancaster & Wyre has spoken movingly about the "enormous financial and emotional sacrifice" of his family during his brother's terminal illness.

During a debate on Beyond Radio about carers, Matt Severn talked about the "incredible strain" on his parents when caring for his teenage brother when he had terminal cancer.

Four of the five candidates for the new Lancaster & Wyre seat were taking questions sent in by Beyond Radio listeners during the debate ahead of the election on July 4.

The debate was broadcast on Beyond Radio on Friday.

LISTEN: Lancaster & Wyre 'Beyond the Ballot' debate - Beyond Radio

One listener asked what the candidates would do to recognise the worth of carers should they become next MP.

Mr Severn, who grew up in Bolton-le-Sands, said: "I know full well the burden of carers because my mum had to give up work to care for both of my siblings at different times in their lives, including when my brother had terminal cancer when he was a teenager.

"So I remember well the enormous financial and emotional sacrifice that the whole family made, but particularly my parents. My mum gave up work because my father had to keep working in order to help pay for the family and that was an incredible strain for both of them.

"My lovely gran, who is 93, gave up huge chunks of her time to come across and help us. Not a single penny was my gran ever able to claim from the government for her fuel costs coming across from Derbyshire to help us. Incredible sacrifices made, because that's what people do when they love each other. It's really past time that the government recognised that.

"(Lib Dem leader) Ed Davey knows that more than anyone. Ed Davey is a carer for his disabled son and previously he was a carer for his parents who both tragically passed away when he was very young. So he's recognised that by introducing a policy that personal care for both elderly people and disabled people would be free in their homes, so we can lift people from the fear of thinking how on earth are we going to pay for this, and the fear for parents of disabled children of who's going to look after them when they're gone. We want to remove those anxieties by having a fully properly funded care system, that's free at the point of use, that sees higher wages for care workers.

"We also want to see increases to Carer's Allowance and stop the absolute scandal of the DWP (Department of Work and Pensions) pursuing people for thousands of pounds of Carer's Allowance to be repaid because they had a few extra hours of work that week.

"I recognise (what the listener has said) from my brother's terminal illness and the depth of love and sacrifice that my parents and grandmother showed in caring for him and caring for me and my sister. That sacrifice lives with me for the rest of my life and I am in politics, amongst other things, to try and make sure that in the future families in those situations can feel more cared for by the government, just as they well as they have by their families and the amazing cancer charities that we have."

Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood from 2015-24 who is standing for Labour in the Lancaster & Wyre constituency, said: "I just want to say that Matt, I didn't realise you had such a close personal connection to this issue and how sorry I am for your loss.

"It touches me every time, the love and sacrifices that carers make. We care because we love people and every single one of us is touched by this issue because at one point in our life all of us have found ourselves in that situation where we need to step up. And I think it must be particularly hard when it's for a child in the way that Matt's parents have experienced.

"I want to pay tribute to Ed Davey for the way in which he's shone a spotlight on this issue. I think family carers do a better job and they need to be better supported. We need to see that national care service, that's in our manifesto, delivered. As we live longer and live with more complex health conditions, that means we need to step up. The NHS was revolutionary when it was brought in. The reality is that the health care needs of the population now are very very different and that inregration between social care and health care needs to happen. The situation has got so critical.

"I agree with Matt on the issue of the DWP. I think it's just so mean to be kicking family carers, as a state. That needs to stop, in my opinion.

"I'd like to see the earning threshold lifted for family carers."

Cat Smith is pictured below.

Peter Cartridge, Conservative Party candidate, also spoke about his own personal experience of a family becoming carers for a loved one.

"Last summer my best friend had a short illness from cancer," said Mr Cartridge.

"I've never come in contact before with a situation where people, have rallied round someone who was ill in their family and become carers. It really did shock me. It was the lack of support out there.

"Carers do an amazing job. And I don't think carers are recognised for the work they do. It would be an enormous cost to the state for them to take responsiblity for that. But it needs to be done.

"I'm proud that we've introduced the living wage and kept benefits in line with inflation, and doubled the personal allowance, but more needs to be done. Stories around the (actions of the) DWP are atrocious and that needs to be sorted quickly.

"Until you're in that situation you don't really understand it. One thing I'd like to see is an increase in Carer's Allowance."

Peter Cartridge is pictured below.

Jack Lenox, Green Party candidate, said he "agreed with what Cat said about Ed Davey".

"Social care is in complete crisis," said Mr Lenox.

"I welcome much of what Peter is saying but I don't know how much of that is in the Conservative manifesto. It's easy to have warm words on this topic but I think it's really important to back that up with action. A lot of the problems Peter has experienced, I would argue, are as a result of his party in national government.

"The DWP's unfair targeting is completely unacceptable. These things are led by Conservative ministers.

"We want to see a massive investment in social care. In our manifesto we're talking about £30bn into health care and £20bn into social care by the end of the next Parliament. We want to see free personal care for elderly people and for disabled people, to ensure dignity, and that needs to be delivered through properly funded councils."

Jack Lenox is pictured below.

Carer's Allowance is the main welfare benefit to help carers, and is £81.90 per week. People can be eligible if they spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone who's ill or has a disability.

In its manifesto, Labour has promised a “programme of reform to create a National Care Service” and a “fair pay agreement” in adult social care that will cover pay, training, terms and conditions.

The Lib Dems want to introduce free personal care and establish a cross-party commission to forge a long-term agreement on sustainable funding for social care, create a national care agency to set national minimum standards of care, introduce a carer’s minimum wage and increase the Carer’s Allowance.

The Conservatives want to provide local authorities with a multi-year funding settlement to support social care and implement planned reforms to cap social care costs from October 2025.

The Greens want to introduce free personal care, increase pay rates and introduce a career structure for carers to rebuild the care workforce, and push for an additional £3bn to enable local authorities to provide high-quality children’s social care.

Reform UK propose to begin a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the social care system, create a national plan for a sustainable social care system, simplify social care through a single funding stream, instead of the split between NHS and local authorities, and provide more funding when a national plan is agreed.

Read more: GENERAL ELECTION: Lancaster & Wyre candidates explain why they should be next MP - Beyond Radio

*We invited all the Lancaster & Wyre candidates to take part in our debate in person, or alternatively provide a mission statement.

A spokesperson for Reform UK said that their Lancaster & Wyre candidate Nigel Alderson would not be attending the debate.