Conservatives and Labour told to ‘grow up’ and tackle social care crisis as unpaid carer tells his story

Published

1 year ago

June 21, 2024

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The architect of the government’s delayed reforms to social care has told Sky News politicians need to “grow up” and tackle the crisis in the sector.

Amid a bitter election row over public spending, Sir Andrew Dilnot said he believed the two main parties were reluctant to discuss care reform for fear of being accused of plotting future tax hikes.

Sir Andrew – whose 2011 report laid out several key measures adopted by the government – described social care as the “biggest risk that isn’t managed” that the country faces.

He said: “Four out of five people are going to need social care before they die, we should grow up and face it.”

“I think politicians are reluctant to talk about it firstly because they’re worried about anything that means an increase in public spending and therefore possible taxation,” he added.

The implementation of a cap on care costs, unveiled by Boris Johnson, was delayed in 2022 until October next year.

The policy promised to limit the amount anyone in England will spend on personal care over their life to £86,000.

Speaking to Sky News on the campaign trail, Rishi Sunak said those charging reforms were still “on track”.

Labour has not explicitly committed to the cap in its manifesto, but a party source confirmed that it would also bring in the reforms as planned.

While the Liberal Democrats have made social care a key part of its policy offering, the sector has barely featured in the campaigns of the main two parties.

The cost of unpaid care

Rob Powell

Political correspondent

@robpowellnews

Norman Phillips is a carer for his wife Ros – who lives with multiple sclerosis and dementia.

Initially he was able to combine work with his caring responsibilities but as Ros’s condition worsened, he took early retirement.

“It was the stress and strain of trying to work… and saying look I’m terribly sorry, but I’ve got to turn around and go back to Stevenage because I can’t find anyone to look after Ros… that was tolerated for a while because I always got the work done… but then it went a bit pear shaped and… I collapsed in the street,” he said.

The couple found help hard to come by and after Norman suffered an injury, they were forced to sell their home to settle care-related debts.

“My kids learned a long time ago that their inheritance is gone… we don’t have any money left. We didn’t have any money left a while back,” Mr Phillips said.

Ros is now subject to an NHS continuing healthcare plan after Norman suffered a breakdown earlier this year and authorities decided he was unable to carry on caring for his wife.

This includes round the clock care for Ros – something Norman says wouldn’t have been needed if a lower level of help had been made available earlier.

He said: “They’ve got six million of us unpaid carers. If they… help us, we can help the system.

“But what’s happened to me, you know, is the system just kept backing away and backing away until I cracked.”

The idea of a cap was first suggested by the Dilnot Commission and put into legislation in 2014.

However its planned implementation in 2016 was delayed by the David Cameron government on cost grounds.

An attempt to reform the sector during the 2017 election was widely seen as the reason for Theresa May losing her Commons majority.

In his first speech as prime minister in 2019, Boris Johnson said he had a “clear plan” to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all”.

Reforms were announced in 2021 alongside an increase in National Insurance to fund the wider sector.

However this tax rise was reversed under Liz Truss before the broader changes were delayed under Rishi Sunak.

It means that many people requiring care are still potentially liable for costs that can stretch to thousands of pounds per month.

Sir Andrew said the lack of suitable social care was also having a “knock on effect” on the NHS as older people ended up stuck in hospitals.

“Lots of elective procedures rely on being able to have a bed and if you’ve got one older person… in hospital for twenty days more than is needed, that could easily mean ten hip replacements not being able to happen because there isn’t the bed space,” he said.

Care bosses have also highlighted staffing shortages caused by low pay as another key problem in the sector while councils have called for more funding from the government.

Speaking to Sky News, Rishi Sunak said £8.5bn was put into the NHS and social care shortly after he became prime minister and that his government had focused on “improving the link between social care and hospitals… but also investing in the workforce”.

A Labour source said “the social care chapter in our manifesto includes a commitment over the next decade to build a national care service, and first steps of a fair pay agreement for care workers”.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also admitted that he wanted a “more ambitious” social policy but that it had to be “affordable” to be included in the manifesto.

Politics

TikTok and Instagram accused of targeting teens with suicide and self-harm content

Published

22 mins ago

August 19, 2025

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TikTok and Instagram accused of targeting teens with suicide and self-harm content

TikTok and Instagram have been accused of targeting teenagers with suicide and self-harm content – at a higher rate than two years ago.

The Molly Rose Foundation – set up by Ian Russell after his 14-year-old daughter took her own life after viewing harmful content on social media – commissioned analysis of hundreds of posts on the platforms, using accounts of a 15-year-old girl based in the UK.

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The charity claimed videos recommended by algorithms on the For You pages continued to feature a “tsunami” of clips containing “suicide, self-harm and intense depression” to under-16s who have previously engaged with similar material.

One in 10 of the harmful posts had been liked at least a million times. The average number of likes was 226,000, the researchers said.

Mr Russell told Sky News the results were “horrifying” and showed online safety laws are not fit for purpose.

‘This is happening on PM’s watch’

He said: “It is staggering that eight years after Molly’s death, incredibly harmful suicide, self-harm, and depression content like she saw is still pervasive across social media.

“Ofcom’s recent child safety codes do not match the sheer scale of harm being suggested to vulnerable users and ultimately do little to prevent more deaths like Molly’s.

“The situation has got worse rather than better, despite the actions of governments and regulators and people like me. The report shows that if you strayed into the rabbit hole of harmful suicide self-injury content, it’s almost inescapable.

“For over a year, this entirely preventable harm has been happening on the prime minister’s watch and where Ofcom have been timid it is time for him to be strong and bring forward strengthened, life-saving legislation without delay.”

After Molly’s death in 2017, a coroner ruled she had been suffering from depression, and the material she had viewed online contributed to her death “in a more than minimal way”.

Researchers at Bright Data looked at 300 Instagram Reels and 242 TikToks to determine if they “promoted and glorified suicide and self-harm”, referenced ideation or methods, or “themes of intense hopelessness, misery, and despair”.

They were gathered between November 2024 and March 2025, before new children’s codes for tech companies under the Online Safety Act came into force in July.

Instagram

The Molly Rose Foundation claimed Instagram “continues to algorithmically recommend appallingly high volumes of harmful material”.

The researchers said 97% of the videos recommended on Instagram Reels for the account of a teenage girl, who had previously looked at this content, were judged to be harmful.

Some 44% actively referenced suicide and self-harm, they said. They also claimed harmful content was sent in emails containing recommended content for users.

A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Instagram, said: “We disagree with the assertions of this report and the limited methodology behind it.

“Tens of millions of teens are now in Instagram Teen Accounts, which offer built-in protections that limit who can contact them, the content they see, and the time they spend on Instagram.

“We continue to use automated technology to remove content encouraging suicide and self-injury, with 99% proactively actioned before being reported to us. We developed Teen Accounts to help protect teens online and continue to work tirelessly to do just that.”

TikTok

TikTok was accused of recommending “an almost uninterrupted supply of harmful material”, with 96% of the videos judged to be harmful, the report said.

Over half (55%) of the For You posts were found to be suicide and self-harm related; a single search yielding posts promoting suicide behaviours, dangerous stunts and challenges, it was claimed.

The number of problematic hashtags had increased since 2023; with many shared on highly-followed accounts which compiled ‘playlists’ of harmful content, the report alleged.

A TikTok spokesperson said: “Teen accounts on TikTok have 50+ features and settings designed to help them safely express themselves, discover and learn, and parents can further customise 20+ content and privacy settings through Family Pairing.

“With over 99% of violative content proactively removed by TikTok, the findings don’t reflect the real experience of people on our platform which the report admits.”

According to TikTok, they not do not allow content showing or promoting suicide and self-harm, and say that banned hashtags lead users to support helplines.

‘A brutal reality’

Both platforms allow young users to provide negative feedback on harmful content recommended to them. But the researchers found they can also provide positive feedback on this content and be sent it for the next 30 days.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “These figures show a brutal reality – for far too long, tech companies have stood by as the internet fed vile content to children, devastating young lives and even tearing some families to pieces.

“But companies can no longer pretend not to see. The Online Safety Act, which came into effect earlier this year, requires platforms to protect all users from illegal content and children from the most harmful content, like promoting or encouraging suicide and self-harm. 45 sites are already under investigation.”

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Since this research was carried out, our new measures to protect children online have come into force.

“These will make a meaningful difference to children – helping to prevent exposure to the most harmful content, including suicide and self-harm material. And for the first time, services will be required by law to tame toxic algorithms.

“Tech firms that don’t comply with the protection measures set out in our codes can expect enforcement action.”

‘A snapshot of rock bottom’

A separate report out today from the Children’s Commissioner found the proportion of children who have seen pornography online has risen in the past two years – also driven by algorithms.

Rachel de Souza described the content young people are seeing as “violent, extreme and degrading”, and often illegal, and said her office’s findings must be seen as a “snapshot of what rock bottom looks like”.

More than half (58%) of respondents to the survey said that, as children, they had seen pornography involving strangulation, while 44% reported seeing a depiction of rape – specifically someone who was asleep.

The survey of 1,020 people aged between 16 and 21 found that they were on average aged 13 when they first saw pornography. More than a quarter (27%) said they were 11, and some reported being six or younger.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

Politics

SEC pushes back decisions on Truth Social, Solana, XRP crypto ETFs

Published

6 hours ago

August 18, 2025

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SEC pushes back decisions on Truth Social, Solana, XRP crypto ETFs

The SEC has pushed back decisions on Truth Social’s Bitcoin-Ethereum ETF, Solana products from 21Shares and Bitwise and 21Shares’ Core XRP Trust — all now set for October deadlines.