IFS Briefing: Lib Dems say Government ministers will be "bailing water from a sinking boat with a spoon" if they ignore fixing social care

EMBARGO: 00:01 Sunday 1st June 

Responding to the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying that decisions over the NHS and defence will dominate the spending review, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

“Ending the crisis in our NHS must be a top priority, but unless they fix social care too, ministers will just be bailing water from a sinking boat with a spoon.

“Vital NHS investment risks going to waste if hospitals can’t discharge patients who don’t need to be there and if local authorities don’t have the resources to care for people in their homes and prevent them going to hospital in the first place.

“In other areas, before looking at painful cuts to already stretched budgets, from justice to farming, the Government must start taking economic growth seriously and urgently negotiate a new bespoke UK-EU customs union, which can turbo-charge business and unlock billions of pounds for our vital public services.”

ENDS